


Eye for an Eye

by orphan_account



Category: Digimon Adventure Zero Two | Digimon Adventure 02, Digimon Frontier
Genre: Angst, Frontier is my favorite season, Gen, He's cocky in general, Hikari doesn't like darkness and doesn't like Kouichi, I love him, Kouji is a general ass, Like, Like these poor spirits, Lol i'm probably not the first to come up with that, Nightmares that are actual history, Oops crossover, Shipping is minimal, Sickness, Takuya is a cocky soccer player, Takuya is afraid of his digimon form because of the flamon fiasco, Takuya is...Takuya, There's Takumi if you squint, Warriors smell like Digimon because they're half digimon now, Yes I'm trash and I wanted to do this, it makes more sense in context i promise, my poor son, sue me, tags will be added as the story progresses, this fic is why we cant have nice things, this is unnecessary kouji calm down, whoops, why is Kouji so angry
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-28
Updated: 2018-08-01
Packaged: 2018-12-20 21:47:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 33,953
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11929917
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: With surprising strength, he shoved Takeru forwards, into his older brother’s awaiting arms.“An eye for an eye, right?” He said quietly, aiming the words at Takeru, who understood immediately. His eyes widened.And then Kouichi was falling backward.-Two years have passed since the Chosen Children defeated Diablomon in a battle for not just the Digital World, but their own as well. Additionally, merely a month has gone by since the Legendary Warriors felled Lucemon and stopped his attack on the real world. Both groups of children were ready to accept that their adventures were over and were prepared to live out the rest of their lives in peace.At least until the Warrior spirits are attacked.An old enemy returns, bringing with him an army of evil Digimon, including powerful God Types. The two teams realize they must come together and fight to once again save not only the Digital World, but their own too. Join the cast of Digimon Adventure 02 and Frontier in one last grand adventure to decide the fates of both worlds and finally put a rest to the evil Digimon threat.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Mmmm that's a nice spicy crossover
> 
> Enjoy!

Taichi Yagami leaned back, sighing slightly, due to an extreme case of boredom. He was home alone, while his younger sister, Hikari, was off with her friends from school. Taichi glanced around the deserted house, knowing that his parents were out for the day and he was home alone. 

He considering calling his best friend, Yamato, but decided against it. Yamato was probably hanging out with his little brother, Takeru. Taichi released another slightly irritated groan. The only person that he had ever really trusted to always be with him, was back in a world he hadn’t visited in a long time.  
The Digital World. 

It was inhabited by creatures called Digimon, creatures that could change shape and form with the power of a Digivice, which was strapped to Taichi’s belt loop. The brunette sighed, closing his eyes, reminding himself with a slight twinge of worry that Digimon could not Digivolve without a Digivice, so if Taichi’s Digimon Partner, Agumon, was attacked by a Digimon a higher level than himself, Agumon would get creamed. Taichi reminded himself that their Digi-Human friend, Gennai, would tell him if something was wrong, like when Diablomon attacked. Taichi smiled slightly at the memory, and picked up the TV remote, deciding that if he were to die of boredom, it wouldn’t be lazing around on the couch thinking about depressing memories. 

He attempted to turn on the TV, before being interrupted by an annoying ring ring of his phone. The brunette glanced at it, and sighed getting up, scowling slightly as he answered. “Yeah, Yagami Residence, Taichi speaking.” 

“Taichi!” 

Taichi’s annoyance about having to get up melted as a familiar voice blared into his ear. His jaw dropped from pure shock. 

“Koushiro?!” 

Koushiro Izumi was one of Taichi’s good friends from when he was in the Digital World. At first Koushiro seemed kind-of anti-social and kind of annoying when he blurted out useless information out of the blue, but as time went on, Koushiro became a valuable addition to the team. 

“Taichi! Thank god, you’re at home,” Koushiro said. “I called Hikari, and you weren’t with her so...anyways not the point. I got a call from Gennai!” 

“Seriously?” Taichi’s jaw dropped when he heard his friends news. Gennai hadn’t contacted them since...well since the defeat of Diablomon three months ago. 

“Yes, seriously,” Koushiro sounded stressed. “Something’s wrong in the Digital World, and he’s going to elaborate pretty soon, when we’re all here. Everyone’s here besides you.” Taichi’s heart leapt at the prospect of seeing his friends again. 

“I’m on my way!” He promised, and hung up, pulling on his sneakers, and opening the door, running down the complex stairs and tearing down the sidewalk, weaving around the crowds of people. Taichi finally reached Koushiro’s apartment complex, which was a place he hadn’t been to for a very long time. He sprinted up the stairs, almost tripping in his haste, and finally arrived, knocking. 

“Come in!” Mrs. Izumi’s voice called, and Taichi opened the door, stepping inside and pulling off his shoes. 

“Hi Mrs. Izumi! Nice to see you again!” The brunette called as he jogged into the living room, and glanced around at the children already assembled there. Takenouchi Sora glanced up, and shook her head at Taichi as he collapsed next to his sister, Hikari. The boy’s best friend, Ishida Yamato grinned slightly, one arm around his brother, Takashi Takeru. Tachikawa Mimi sighed at Taichi’s flustered face while Koushiro sat at his traditional white and yellow laptop with a pinapple on the front. Kido Jou sat twiddling his thumbs out of nervousness, sitting in the middle of Sora and Yamato. 

“Well, it’s been awhile guys,” Sora said smiling slightly. 

“Yeah, we really should have gotten together awhile ago,” Yamato commented while Takeru nodded in agreement. 

“We can all say hello to Taichi later,” Koushiro chided. “I just set an email to Gennai letting him know that we’re all here. He should be pulling us in through the computer any second now.” The others nodded, and glanced at each other nervously. They hadn’t been to the Digital World for almost two years. How much of it had changed? Would their Digimon Partners even recognize them? 

“Alright guys, Gennai’s gotten my email,” The quivering in Koushiro’s voice confirmed everyone’s fears. “Get behind me.” The Chosen hesitated before nodding, and assembled behind the redhaired computer genius. “Mom! We’re going!” Koushiro called before a bright light sucked them all into his computer, and they were flying through data, and landing with a crash on floor. 

 

Agumon sighed, pacing slightly on the cold, hard floor of Gennai’s office. His claws made slight clicking noises as he walked, and he scowled slightly, wondering if Taichi would remember him. Agumon shook his head, and grimaced. It had been only three months since seeing each other, and Taichi wouldn’t forget that quickly, even if he had a terrible memory at times. 

“Agumon,” Mewled Tailmon from a little ways off, laying on the ground, Agumon’s worries reflected in her eyes. “Stop pacing, we all know you’re worried, but you only saw Tachi three months ago. You’re almost as bad as Gabumon...”

“Agreed,” Patamon piped up. “I know Tailmon and I recently saw our partners too...but come on...” Agumon breathed in and out, and sat down next to his good friend, Gabumon. The wolf-like Digimon hardly looked up as Agumon sat. 

“Hey, Agumon,” It muttered. “Do you...Do you think Yamato will remember us?” 

“That’s kind of silly Gabumon,” Agumon laughed, trying to lift the mood. “It’s only been three months. Imagine how Piyomon and the others are feeling. They haven’t seen their partners in nearly two years...” 

“Tailmon and Patamon saw Hikari and Takeru when we did to defeat Diablomon once and for all,” Gabumon mumbled. 

“Yeah, so did we,” Agumon reminded his friend. “I’d be more concerned with the others who haven’t seen their partners for longer...they must be worried sick, and also wondering if they even remember them...” Gabumon sighed and glanced up at Agumon, nodding briefly, before returning his gaze to his apparently very interesting feet. 

Agumon also glanced at his feet, waiting. Every second was agonizing. He wanted to see Taichi now. The Digital World needed the Chosen Children more than ever, and Agumon couldn’t help his Digimon friends without Digivolving. He was resulted to helping the Digimon refugees that survived the plundering of the Digital World by the ‘Fallen Angel’, who was a Digimon whose name was lost in the ages. He had reappeared looking for these ‘spirits’ so he could destroy them once and for all. He managed to find all of them, and destroy them...or so he thought. Gennai and the Digimon had managed to find them, but they were hardly alive. Gennai suspected that they had human partners in the real world that were keeping them alive. 

Gennai entered the room, glancing at the nervous rookies sitting around the room, most muttering under their breaths, or like Agumon, Tailmon, and Gabumon, sitting silently, brooding in their own thoughts. He cleared his throat, and they glanced up nervously. 

“The Chosen are on there way right now,” He announced, breaking the tension that had been there for almost two weeks now. Piyomon released a relieved sigh, and glanced at Gomamon who, after tensing up and staying that way for nearly half-an-hour, relaxed at the news. 

“How soon?” Tailmon asked. 

“Soon.” 

Gennai left the room, and the Digimon exchanged excited looks. They were finally going to see their partners after only three months for some, and nearly two years for others. They stood, and followed Gennai from the room. 

 

Taichi found himself falling with a slight crash on top of something squishy and alive. He opened an eye, before realizing with a start he had landed right on top of Koushiro, and from the crashing on his back, he only could assume that everyone else had landed on top of them, in one huge dog pile. 

“If you don’t mind...” Koushiro muttered. “Could you GET OFF OF ME?!” The others froze for a moment before rolling off of each other, besides Mimi, who was fortunately on the top, jumped down. She crashed to the ground a second later as Yamato rolled over her feet, making her trip. 

“Yamato!” She complained loudly. 

“Sorry...” Yamato mumbled as he got up, while everyone else awkwardly got off of each other. Taichi got up, shooting Koushiro an apologetic glance. The redhead smiled, letting Taichi know it was alright, before glancing around. 

“Children...are you alright?” 

Taichi froze at the voice he hadn’t heard in three months. He turned and grinned at his Digi-Human friend Gennai. 

“Gennai!” 

Sora and Mimi looked up in surprise, and grinned when they saw who was standing behind Gennai. 

“Piyomon!” 

“Palmon!” 

The two embraced their Digimon partners while the others clambered hesitantly forwards. 

“Jou?” Gomamon asked, while his partner’s eyes shone with happiness. 

“Gomamon!” Jou said happily, and picked up his friend and squeezed him in a hug. 

“Patamon!” Takeru squealed and laughed as Patamon knocked him over in his excitement to see him. 

“Tailmon!” Hikari chimed in and smiled when the cat-like Digimon crawled up her arm, and nuzzled into her head.

“Koushiro!” Tentomon said. Koushiro grinned. Finally Agumon and Gabumon entered, receiving tackle-hugs from both Yamato and Taichi. Gennai smiled at the reunion, and gestured for the Chosen to sit at a table. 

“Come. We have much to talk about.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gennai explains shit. Meanwhile, Kouji thinks its a good idea to wake Takuya up at four in the morning. Spoilers: its not a good idea. Also sickness. Also Iori is an observant boi.

Gennai seated the chosen around a table, chewing his lower lip and fidgeting with his fingers. Taichi watched him nervously as he put a hand on Agumon’s head. At long last, Gennai pulled out three DigiTamas from within a small box sitting in the middle of the table. A gasp ripped itself from Taichi’s throat as the rest of his fellow chosen reeled back in shock. 

“DigiTamas?” Koushiro breathed. “But whose?” 

“Lord Cherubimon,” Gennai pointed to a murple and blue striped DigiTama. “Lord Seraphimon.” He pointed to the white and gold striped next. “And Lady Ophanimon.” He finally pointed at the final egg, which was silver and white. 

“Who are they?” Takeru couldn’t help but question. 

“They’re the three guardians of the Digital World,” Patamon explained. “They keep the peace between the beast and human Digimon. They’re very powerful, but recently...there’s been a Fallen Angel who’s been going around and killing Digimon and turning them into DigiTamas. Lord Cherubimon, Lord Seraphimon, and Lady Ophanimon were some of the victims.” 

“Yeah,” Tailmon scowled as she paced around the table on all four legs. “And this ‘fallen angel’ is after these Legendary Warrior things.” 

“Was,” Gennai corrected Tailmon. “He found them. And then proceeded to destroy them. However…” He gently lifted the box up from the table and tilted it so the chosen could see the contents of it. “They managed to survive. These are the remains of what were once very powerful Digimon.” Within the box were six devices with their screens cracked and the rest of the device mutilated in a similar fashion. Taichi flinched. 

“What the…” He breathed. 

“What kind of monster could do that?!” Hikari suddenly shouted, standing up. “Digimon aren’t just data...they’re living! They’re breathing! Why can’t people understand that?!” 

“Hikari,” Sora gently coaxed Taichi’s little sister back into her seat. The girl was fuming with rage and only relaxed when Takeru put a gentle hand on her arm. 

“The only reason they haven’t turned into DigiTamas yet are because they have human partners, living in the real world,” Gennai said. “I’m not certain who. Which is why I need you eight to find the holders of the Legendary Warrior’s spirits. They have to survive. Otherwise, the Digital World is doomed.”

“How are we supposed to find them?” Takeru frowned. “They could be anyone in Japan. For all we know, they could be in another country!” 

“They’re in Japan,” Gennai insisted. “I can feel it. Your Digimon will be able to sniff them out. They will have a different scent than normal humans.” 

Koushiro rested back in his seat, breathing out heavily through his nose. “In that case, let’s get searching.”

 

The moon began its decrease through the sky and began to shine through the window of a bedroom on the second story of a traditionally styled Japanese home. The sheets on the bed were thrown carelessly over the head of a brown-haired youth, who was currently fast asleep and didn’t seem like he was going to wake up anytime soon. An alarm clock on the bedside table showed that it was currently 4 almost 5 in the morning.

A sudden, loud ringing jarred the young man from his sleep and the bed covers shifted slightly as a groan of annoyance came from underneath the sheets. A tanned hand flicked out from underneath the bed covers and felt around the desk above for the alarm clock. Finding it and the snooze button, the occupant of the bed pressed it, but yet the ringing continued. 

The young man clicked the button again, but to no avail. The covers were flung back and the boy grabbed the clock with both hands and glared at it, before deducing that this was not what had roused him from his slumber. 

Placing the alarm clock back down, he cast his gaze around the room, before fixing it on his phone, which was vibrating intensely and ringing loudly. The boy swung his legs out of bed with reluctance and passed over to his phone to silence it, scowling. He noticed the ID of the caller and sighed, taking the phone and padding back over to his bed. Running a hand through his already messy hair and accepting the call. 

“What do you want, Kouji?” He asked thickly, rubbing his eyes. “It’s four in the morning.” 

“Sorry, Takuya,” The male’s best friend, Minamoto Kouji’s voice came out of the phone. He sounded surprisingly awake and alert for it being so ungodly early. 

“But...Wolfmon came to me in a dream. He’s in trouble.” Takuya was awake almost immediately. 

“What?” 

“I don’t know any details,” Kouji said. “But all I know since waking up is that I have a splitting headache and Wolfmon fused his soul back with mine. He’s in so much pain...” 

Takuya winced in sympathy. “Are you alright?” 

“My wellbeing isn’t the problem here!” Kouji said sharply. “The problem is the fact that if Wolfmon is in trouble, the rest of them must be! You didn’t see Agnimon in your dreams, did you?” 

“No,” Takuya frowned, remembering his dream. “I don’t think so.” Kouji released an agitated sigh, and the brunette could practically imagine his best friend running his fingers through his hair frustratedly. 

“If he does, tell me as soon as possible,” He ordered. 

“Got it,” Takuya said, yawning. “Now if you don’t mind, I’m going to go back to sleep.” 

“Alright,” Kouji sighed. “Night. I’ll see you tomorrow.” 

“Yeah.” 

Takuya hung up the phone and found himself staring at it for several minutes. Wolfmon came back to Kouji? How was that even possible? 

Setting the phone back down on his desk, Takuya wandered back into bed and flung the covers over his head, his eyes drifting shut. He didn’t fall asleep for hours afterwards. 

 

When Takuya next opened his eyes, he was surrounded by a white expanse in all directions as far as the eye could see. The only thing besides himself that he could see was a figure with a mane of blonde hair and red armour. Piercing blue eyes fixed on Takuya and a grin spread across the brunette’s face. 

“Agnimon!” 

He started forwards to embrace the warrior in a tight hug, until he spotted the cracks all along the armour and the wounds that littered his face. He looked exhausted and Takuya could already feel Agnimon’s exhaustion and pain weighing him down. 

“Are you okay?” The worried brunette swallowed. 

Agnimon shook his head, confirming Takuya’s worst fears. 

“What happened?!” 

“I was attacked,” Agnimon responded, his voice weak. “My spirit has almost faded.”

“Who attacked you?! I can help-!” Takuya’s voice cracked out of desperation. Agnimon and him were connected more than anyone could ever know, and a similar bond was shared with the rest of the warriors and their partners. Agnimon cracked a weak smile at his partner’s eagerness. 

“There is something you can do,” Agnimon said. 

“What is it?!” 

“We must fuse our souls,” The warrior of flame replied and Takuya stared, dumbfounded at Agnimon for a moment. “It will be a particularly uncomfortable process. You will feel my pain until I’ve regained my strength.” 

“That’s what Kouji did with Wolfmon,” Takuya guessed and Agnimon nodded. 

“Will you do this?” 

“Do you even need to ask?” Takuya grinned. Agnimon returned the smile and stepped forwards, holding out his hand. Takuya reached out and took it, closing his eyes as the Warrior of Flame’s spirit seeped into his body. A familiar and comforting warmth filled his soul as he opened his eyes, finding himself alone in the white room. 

“Welcome home,” He said softly to Agnimon’s spirit, flickering inside him. 

 

If the alarm didn’t wake Takuya up, it was the splitting headache. 

His eyes shot open and be slammed his hand down on the snooze button, curling in a ball underneath the covers and wrapping his arms around his stomach. “Ugh...”   
His entire body tingled with pain. His arms and legs felt like weights whenever he tried to move. With difficulty, he sat up, the single movement filling him with a queasy feeling and a lump rose in his throat. He had time to think _please no_ before he felt last night’s dinner fill his mouth and he clapped his hand to it, making a break for the bathroom. 

When he emerged, the brunette was clammy and quivering, and made his way back into his bedroom, considering to skip school. His hand closed in around his phone and he dialed Kouji’s familiar number, collapsing on the bed and tossing the crook of his arm over his eyes, holding the phone to his ear. 

“Hello?” 

Takuya almost winced at Kouji’s voice. He sounded bad, even worse then when he caught a terrible flu that was flying around the Shibuya district a few years back. 

“Agnimon joined his spirit with mine,” Takuya groaned. “And now I can feel his pain. I’ve already thrown up and I haven’t been awake for ten minutes yet.”

“Now you know how I felt last night,” Kouji muttered and Takuya bit back an awesome retort as he groaned softly in pain. 

“It feels like I’m being chewed from the inside,” He whined. “Did anyone else talk to their spirits?” 

“Kouichi and Izumi did,” Kouji said. “I don’t know about Tomoki and Junpei. My guess is that they did.” Takuya nodded, even though it made his head pound even more than it already was. A moment of silence fell between the two friends, until Kouji finally spoke. “Don’t stay home today.” 

“What?!” Dread for the day to come filled Takuya. 

“According to Izumi, Fairymon told her that there are people trying to find us,” Kouichi said. “She didn’t elaborate on whether they were good or bad, but either way we have to be careful. If all of us vanished on the same day, that would be pretty suspicious, right?” 

“Yeah,” Takuya agreed grudgingly. “But can I at least take a day off?” 

“Huh?” 

“Choose one day this week to stay home and recover.” 

Kouji didn’t respond for a moment, so Takuya presumed that he was going to refuse his idea. The brunette was about to tell the ravenette he was going to do it whether he liked it or not, when Kouji finally spoke. 

“That’s a good idea,” He said slowly. “We won’t give our Digimon any time to recover from whatever attacked them.” 

“Glad you see things my way,” Takuya said. “If that’s the case, I’m taking today off.” 

“Takuya!” 

“Bye!” The brunette hung up before his friend could attempt to convince him otherwise. He put his phone on his bedside table, rolling back over and raising his hand above his head, watching it quiver. “Agnimon...what happened to you?”

 

The school bell rang as Hikari burst into her classroom, barely on time for her first period of the day. The teacher grudgingly accepted her as on time and she sighed in relief, heading to the back of the room where she sat next to a ravenette boy named Kimura Kouichi. His twin brother, Minamoto Kouji, sat in front of him and both boys had their foreheads pressed against their arms. Hikari frowned in concern, taking her seat and gently tapping Kouichi on the shoulder.

“Are you alright?” She whispered as the boy lifted his head. He offered her a reassuring smile, nodding his head. 

“I just caught a cold over the weekend,” He assured her. “I haven’t gotten over it yet, but I’ll be fine in a few days.” Hikari nodded, and gazed to the front where the teacher began the lesson. Her gaze was vacant as she thought about the task set out for her.

As soon as they returned from the Digital World, their Digimon in tow, they had split up and gone searching for any kind of clue that could lead them to the locations of the Legendary Warriors. Gennai had said that the spirits within the devices in his box had suddenly gone and left, soon after they arrived back in the real world. So it was only logical that they had gone to find their partners. 

But even despite that, they had no leads, no form of communication with these warriors, and worse of all, they had no idea where to start looking. It wasn’t as if they could prance down the street with their Digimon, asking every kid their age if they were a Legendary Warrior that had saved the Digital World. 

Hikari let out an irritated sigh and shifted her attention towards the ravenette twins who sat obediently in their chairs, taking dedicated notes as usual. Although she had noticed that Kouichi’s usually rapt attention on the teacher was more focused on the pencil moving lazily across the paper.

 _That must be some cold,_ She found herself thinking, picking up her pencil. 

 

As soon as the lunch bell rang, Kouji made a break for the bathroom, tossing his bag over his shoulder. His entire body ached and moving pained him worse than anything else. However, that wasn’t his biggest concern at the moment. He was currently attempting to keep his breakfast down before he reached the bathroom. Kouichi trailed behind him as Kouji forced open the bathroom door, and pushed open the nearest stall and promptly throwing up into it. Wiping his mouth he glanced back at his older brother standing behind him, leaning heavily against the wall and watching Kouji closely. 

“Do you want me to call Mom?” Kouichi’s voice was weak, but Kouji could hear it clearly through the empty bathroom. The ravenette shook his head, standing up on unsteady legs and moving to wash his hands. 

“I’ll be fine,” He said through gritted teeth. “We have to find Tomoki and Junpei outside and see if Blitzmon and Chakkumon came to them too.” 

“Izumi and Takuya stayed home, huh?” Kouichi leaned his head back on the wall, closing his eyes in a feeble attempt to clear the headache that was making it difficult to concentrate. Kouji nodded, his grip tightening on the sink corners. 

“That Takuya,” He hissed, still sour about his conversation with the brunette that morning. “Honestly…” 

“We can’t blame him,” Kouichi chided softly. “All of our side effects from fusing our souls with our spirits are different.” 

“Yeah,” Kouji picked up his backpack, which he had abandoned on the floor in his rush to get to a stall. “I know. Let’s go.” Kouichi nodded silently, following his brother back into the crowded hallways.

 

“I can’t believe we were put into different classes!” 

Motomiya Daisuke groaned loudly as he plopped his lunch down on the table and sat next to Inoue Miyako. Hikari rolled her eyes as she bit into her sandwich as Takeru slammed his palm into his forehead. 

“You say that literally every day,” Takeru told the goggle-headed boy who shrugged in response and glared down at the lunch that the school had provided for him. Wrinkling his nose at the smell Daisuke decided it was best to skip today’s meatloaf and gazed around at his group of friends, narrowing his eyes at the absence of someone. 

“Where’s Iori?” 

Hida Iori was the youngest of the group and was always naturally late to lunch due to his determinedness to finish assignments he hadn’t in class. But he was usually here around the time Daisuke got his lunch and sat down. 

“He talked to me,” Miyako told him. “He has to talk to his teacher about something. More importantly...” She glanced at Takeru and Hikari. “What did Gennai want yesterday?” 

“Oh right, you guys weren’t able to come,” Takeru remembered. 

“Curse Jun and her cleaning habits,” Daisuke muttered under his breath, playing with the prongs of his plastic fork. Miyako kicked him under the table. 

“So what did he need?” Miyako pressed. 

“Well…” Takeru tilted his head, not really sure how to start. “He gave us a new mission.” 

“Really?” Daisuke looked up, his interest piqued. “What kind?”

“We have to find people,” Hikari scowled. “These ‘Legendary Warriors.’ And we have next to no resources to help us find them.” Miyako blinked. 

“Why don’t we just use our Digimon?” 

Everyone gathered at the table gave her a weird look. 

“Well, these ‘Legendary Warriors’ have to have partners, right?” Miyako’s fingers stretched quotation marks around the words ‘Legendary Warriors.’ “So they have to smell like a Digimon.” 

“Where are you going with this?” Hikari’s eyebrows were raised. 

“Why don’t we just have our Digimon smell them out?” Miyako grinned. “I mean, it’ll be a little weird, we’ll have to walk close to literally everyone we pass by, but that should only happen at school since these guys should be around our age group.” 

“How do we even know they go to our school?” Takeru asked. 

“Simple,” Miyako raised a finger. “The most Digital World activity is around this area, and one of the most recent was when that Digimon burst through the Shibuya train station about a month ago. Remember? Iori, Daisuke, Ken, and I were all running for the train station to stop it when it suddenly vanished. And, if I’m right in concluding that the Legendary Warriors were the ones that stopped that Digimon then I’m also right in saying that they have to go to this school, since it’s the closest one to the Shibuya train station.”

Hikari frowned, deep in thought. “We should relay this to the others. Daisuke, you get a message to Ken and I’ll tell Taichi.” 

“I can tell Yamato,” Takeru volunteered. “And then they’ll tell the rest of the older Chosen Children.” 

“I’ll tell Iori everything when he gets here,” Miyako decided and Daisuke grinned. Finding the Legendary Warriors just got a whole lot easier. 

 

“Thank you so much, sensei,” Iori thanked his teacher for the billionth time for helping him figure out a problem he was having trouble with in math that day. His teacher nodded in response and flicked his wrist at the boy, as if telling him to get out and get some food. 

Iori exited the classroom with his bag over his shoulder, before spotting a familiar outrageous orange hat. Himi Tomoki, the brown-haired boy that was in the same class as him. Iori was about to greet him, when he noticed Tomoki was talking to an upperclassman, who looked old enough to be in high school. He looked pale and was shaking and one arm was wrapped tightly around his stomach. 

Iori knew it was rude to eavesdrop, but he couldn’t help it as he slid up to the row of lockers and pretended to be busying himself with his, placing books in and taking others out for the next period, listening all the while. 

“I feel awful,” Tomoki was saying. “Whatever happened to him, it was bad and I can feel the aftereffects. I almost didn’t come to school today, but Kouji told me it was too suspicious, since Izumi and Takuya were also taking the day off…” 

_Takuya…_

The name was familiar to Iori. He remembered Daisuke and Taichi ranting about a new soccer player on the team who was almost too cocky for his own good. The only reason Taichi had allowed him on the team was because of the natural skill and the potential that the boy possessed. 

What was that boy’s name again? 

_Kanbara Takuya…_ Iori remembered with a start, before glancing at Tomoki. He knew Takuya enough to be on a first name basis with him? It’s none of my concern, Iori reminded himself, shutting his locker and beginning to walk away, when the elder boy’s words stopped him in his tracks. 

“How long do you think it will take for them to recover?” 

A chilling feeling filled Iori. The boy could very well be talking about the rest of their friends who had also gotten this same sickness, but a feeling in Iori’s gut told him it went much deeper than that. Something wasn’t right here, and he was determined to find out what.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HEY
> 
> HOPE YOU ENJOYED THIS CHAPTER


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Short, half-assed chapter
> 
> Izumi sounds like a frog.

The bell rang and the students swarmed out of the front doors of the school, chatting amiably about their plans for the rest of the day. Taichi watched them from the soccer field, tying his cleats on one the stand’s metal benches. The other members of his team were getting prepared as Daisuke wandered over to Taichi, soccer ball in hand. 

“Did Hikari tell you what we figured out?” He asked and Taichi nodded. His little sister had confronted him after lunch and quickly explained to him what she and the other Chosen Children had deduced earlier. 

“I already sent a message to Koushiro and Sora,” Taichi said, before Daisuke could ask. “They should be spreading it to Jou and Mimi as we speak.” The younger Chosen Child nodded, spinning the soccer ball in his hands and frowning, looking around at the team. 

“Huh...we’re missing someone aren’t we?” 

Taichi counted the amount of players spread around the field, his brown eyes narrowed as he realized that they were one short. “Yeah, we are. Where’s Takuya?” 

The brunette in question was currently curled into a ball, trying to distract the pain shooting through his body by scrolling through his social media accounts on his phone. But his thumb was beginning to cramp up and he couldn’t get into a comfortable position without feeling like he simultaneously broke every bone in his entire body. 

He knew Agnimon felt bad about the pain he was making Takuya endure. Every so often he would feel apologetic waves from the Warrior’s soul, deep within Takuya’s being. 

The goggle-headed boy rolled onto his side, putting his phone down on the pillow his head was resting on, his thumb moving every few minutes to scroll the app down. 

His spree of reading nothing but posts off of Tumblr was suddenly interrupted as his phone buzzed and an incoming call from ‘Orimoto Izumi’ was displayed on the screen. Takuya furrowed his brow, staring at the ID before accepting the call. 

“Hello? Izumi?” His raspy voice echoed into the receiver. 

“Takuya?” The blonde-haired girl’s sounded like she had just been gargling twenty frogs at once. Takuya wanted to laugh at the thought, but decided against it, knowing how the Italian girl got sometimes. 

“How are you feeling?” He said instead, mentally congratulating himself for such a nice save. He heard Izumi groan painfully on the other end. 

“Other than feeling like my entire body was slammed into a brick wall repeatedly, I’m doing great!” Izumi said sarcastically. 

“Yeah, you sound like that,” Takuya said without thinking. 

“Yeah, I know,” Izumi groaned and the brunette blinked in confusion. Normally Izumi would have yelled at him in one form or another. This sickness must have really been getting to her head. “Anyways, no one else was picking up their phones so I figured I’d tell you something to pass onto the others.” Izumi continued. 

“Oh, uh okay,” Takuya blinked. “Is it what Fairymon told you about those people that are after us?”

“So Kouji did tell you,” Izumi said. “Good. I was afraid he wouldn’t. But essentially, yeah. We’re being hunted after and at first I assumed that they were evil and were out to take our spirits, like in the good old days. But I fell asleep earlier and talked to Fairymon again. Apparently they’re Chosen Children, like us, but have partners for Digimon instead of spirits.” 

“That’s weird,” Takuya muttered. 

“Yeah,” Izumi agreed. “But they aren’t apparently evil. According to Fairymon, a fallen angel came up to where their spirits were resting in our D-Scanners and began to destroy them. Ophanimon stopped him, but at the cost of her life.” 

“Fallen Angel...” Takuya twisted his mouth to one side. “Huh...” 

“Sounds familiar, right?” 

“Yeah...” The brunette sat up, despite it paining him. “Sort of like...” 

“Lucemon,” Izumi finished for him. 

 

Miyako swung her backpack over her shoulder, heading home from school. A scowl lit up her face as she remembered today was her shift at her family’s convenience store. Her grip tightened on her backpack straps and she let out an irritated huff as she stopped in front of the store, opening it as a chime rang within the store. Her older brother looked up from where he was zoning out at the cash register. 

“I know, I know,” Miyako muttered before he could remind her that is was her turn. He scurried out of the back, eager to get back upstairs to his bedroom in their apartment. Miyako huffed as she dropped her backpack underneath the counter and took a seat next to the register and placing her chin in her palm, staring blankly down at the front door. 

About an hour into her shift, her phone buzzed and she looked down at it, frowning at the text that lit up her screen. It was from Daisuke, informing her that he had passed the message onto Ken successfully, and he was now keeping an eye out for anyone suspicious at his school.

Miyako sighed again. Today was going to be a long day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AAAA ITS SHORT
> 
> AND SHIT
> 
> BUT MOSTLY SHORT
> 
> BUT AT LEAST THE PLOT'S STARTING TO KICK IN


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Iori continues to be observant, Kouji smells like Digimon, (whoops) and Junpei has a surprising announcement. Also, Daisuke.

Almost a week had passed and the side effects of the warrior’s wounds on their partners and almost all but faded. They were able to attend school normally without throwing up or passing out in class from the pain.

Tomoki walked through the elementary school gates, reviewing the facts for today’s quiz again in his mind. He felt slightly queasy, but it was nothing compared to when Chakkumon first appeared in his brain. He glanced warily around the schoolyard, where the other children were playing and laughing with each other before school began.

Ever since Izumi had passed the message that they were being hunted by a group of Chosen Children like themselves, Tomoki couldn’t help but be a little on edge. He had no idea who they were and even though he knew they weren’t evil, he was still cautious about literally everyone in his class.

The bell thundered across the yard, and the students began to hurry in one huge wave towards the school gates, chattering and picking up their backpacks as they went. Tomoki went along with the wave, entering his classroom and taking his usual seat near the back of the room and placing his stuff down on top of his desk. He scooted slightly closer to his seat as Iori walked by to put his stuff on the desk behind Tomoki’s and sat down.

Iori gazed at Tomoki as he sat down and put his chin in his palm, staring out the window. The brown-haired boy had been acting strange ever since last week, when he had the conversation with that upperclassman. He had been talking to himself more and was zoning out a lot more than usual.

Iori’s gaze narrowed as he glared at Tomoki’s back. He was hiding something, and Iori was going to find out exactly what it was.

 

The rest of the day went by with relatively few problems. Both groups of Chosen Children were relieved when the bell rang and they were released for the weekend. Takeru packed his things into his backpack, noticing that he and Kouji were the only two left in the room. Kouichi had hurried ahead of him to collect the rest of their friends, who were undoubtedly in other classes.

Takeru couldn’t help but watch the raven-haired boy closely as he put his notebook away. Patamon had informed him during lunch that several people, up to one or two, smelled distinctly like Digimon in his class. Tailmon had agreed, saying that Kouichi in particular had that stench, making the ravenette number one on a suspect list for a Chosen Child.

As Kouji swung his backpack over his shoulder, Takeru watched him go with narrowed eyes, before Patamon popped his head out of the blond’s backpack, his eyes wide.

“He smells like a Digimon too!”

 

As soon as the bell rang, Junpei made a break for the middle school, running as fast as his legs would carry him. Along the way, he ran into Izumi and Kouichi, who were on their way to get him. The trio then made their way to find Tomoki, who was waving to someone as he walked out of his classroom.

“A friend?” Kouichi asked the boy who nodded, smiling.

“His name is Iori,” He explained. “We haven’t talked much at all. He just approached me during class. Strange…” He shook his head and glanced between the three that stood in front of him.

“Where’re Takuya and Kouji?”

“Takuya has soccer practice,” Izumi said. “And Kouji had to finish packing his things. He said he’d meet us at the school entrance.” Tomoki nodded and Junpei crossed his arms, a frown crossing his face.

“I actually have something that we need to talk about,” Junpei said. “In private.”

 

The sun was setting before Takuya finally was released from soccer practice. Bidding farewell to his teammates, the goggle-headed boy started on his way towards the park, where he was told to meet up with everyone so they could discuss what was going to happen now that the Warrior’s spirits had been fused with theirs.

Takuya turned into the park entrance, noticing his teammates all grouped around a certain tree near the entrance to the park. He called their names, successfully gaining their attention before joining them, placing his soccer bag down on the ground, leaning against the tree.

“Took you long enough,” Kouji rolled his eyes and Takuya shot him a glare.

“Shut it.”

“Anyways,” Izumi prompted, before the boys could engage in a fierce argument. “We need to figure out what we’re supposed to do now.”

“Speaking of which,” Junpei said. “I wanted to talk about something.” Attention shifted instantly to him and he chewed on his lower lip for a moment.

“What’s up?” Takuya asked.

Junpei glanced around anxiously for a moment, as if he were afraid of someone eavesdropping before turning back to the group. “So...Blitzmon told me something weird last night in a dream. It was something about our Spirit Evolution abilities.”

“In case you forgot,” Kouji raised an eyebrow. “We can’t spirit evolve. We don’t have our D-Scanners.”

“Wrong!” Junpei said proudly. “Since we’re basically half-Digimon now, we can turn into our Digimon forms. And it requires a lot of energy. And I mean a lot. Think about how much Digimon eat and then multiply that by like fifty. That’s how much energy we’d need to spirit evolve just into our child forms.”

“What about our regular human and beast spirits?” Tomoki asked. “How much would that take?”

“A lot more,” Junpei grimaced. “Blitzmon said with practice it would become easier but there’s also the off chance that we’d be stuck in our child forms until we figured out how to return human.”

“Oh my favorite,” Takuya muttered. It was known through the group that Takuya had once had an experience in the Digital World which caused him to be stuck as Flamon in the human world for a time. It was not the goggle-head’s favorite memory from their adventure.

Kouichi’s lips turned down into a slight frown. “Then what are we supposed to do? I guess we can practice with our spirits over the weekend, but if we get stuck in our Digimon forms…” He trailed off. He didn’t need to finish his sentence to get his point across. It’d be almost mortifying to be stuck in their child level forms. Unable to return to human, they’d have to wander around the city to search for the other Chosen group so they could find a way back.

And that was sure to cause a lot of confusion.

 

When the explosion hit, Daisuke was walking through the park with V-Mon.

His hands were stuffed in his pockets, his gaze directed at the ground. His eyes were narrowed slightly as, for the hundredth time, he thought about how utterly ridiculous this whole mission was. There had to be hundreds, if not thousands of Japanese Chosen Children and they were supposed to find six of them? Daisuke roughly chucked a rock into the lake, sending ripples across the surface. V-Mon looked up at his partner, concerned at the expression on his face.

“Daisuke?” V-Mon asked, almost hesitantly. “Everything okay?” The Chosen of Courage and Friendship looked down at his partner before releasing an agitated sigh and plopping down on the bench in front of the lake. Plopping his chin in his palm, he blew an angry breath up at his bangs.

“No,” He said honestly.

“What’s wrong?”

“It’s the mission we’ve been put on,” Daisuke leaned back, his back hitting the the bench so hard he winced slightly. “How are we supposed to do find six kids out of what, thousands of Chosen in Japan? I know Miyako said that they should go to this school but-” Daisuke cut himself off with an irritated groan. If he ranted about this any longer, he would probably go into an angry rage.

“I wish Ken wasn’t in Tamachi,” He said after a moment. “He’s smart enough to figure something out.” V-Mon remained silent and the two stared across the lake for a moment when-

_BOOM._

The ground began to rumble and a loud explosion from nearby made Daisuke clap his hands over his ears.This was followed by an ear-shattering roar, forcing V-Mon to cover his own ears.

“What was-” Daisuke didn’t have to finish his sentence as he turned around. Towering high above the buildings was a familiar dinosaur-like Digimon that made Daisuke pale. “Is that...DarkTyrannomon?” He asked, almost fearing V-Mon’s answer.

“Yep,” His partner confirmed. “Although how he managed to get through a digital port into the human world is beyond me…”

“We’ve gotta stop it!” Daisuke gripped his digivice tightly, turning to V-Mon.

“Agreed,” V-Mon said. “Let’s go!” They ran towards the DarkTyrannomon, roaring and breathing fire into the air, preparing themselves for battle.

If there was one thing Daisuke learned from fighting DarkTyrannomon, it was to not run into a battle blindly with running pedestrians, an angry Digimon, and policemen swerving up the road towards the battle without backup.

Vaulting over a car, V-Mon right beside him, Daisuke ran blindly into the smoke that had risen from DarkTyrannomon knocking the roof off of a building. Unable to see, Daisuke ran blindly in the direction of what he hoped was DarkTyrannomon, nearly running head-first into a familiar face.

Ichijouji Ken stood with Wormmon, staring up at a dark mass above him, his hands curling into fists. Daisuke’s heart swelled at the sight of his best friend - he hadn’t seen him in nearly six months.

“Ken!” He shouted, catching the raven-haired boy’s attention.

“Daisuke!” Ken ran towards his DNA Evolution partner. “What’s going on?”

“Your guess is as good as mine!” Daisuke briefly wondered what Ken was doing in Odaiba but pushed the thought to the back of his head and raised his Digivice in his hand.

“We’ve gotta stop it,” He said firmly. “That DarkTyrannomon could start killing people at any moment.”

“Right,” Ken agreed, spinning the Digivice in his hand and narrowing his eyes. “It’s an Adult level. XV-Mon and Stingmon should be able to take care of it no problem.” Daisuke had a terrible feeling that this Digimon was stronger than most DarkTyrannomon they had faced thus far, but shook it off, turning to his partner.

“V-Mon!” He shouted. “Ready?”

“As I’ll ever be!” V-Mon said confidently. A simple look between Ken and Wormmon was all that was needed before the two Digimon began to glow.

“V-Mon, evolve!”

“Wormmon, evolve!”

The intense light grew into a pillar that shot into the sky as the two Digimon began to change into their Adult forms. A moment later, XV-Mon’s wings tore through the light, revealing Daisuke’s partner. Stingmon appeared not a second later, and the two Digimon readied themselves for battle before shooting into the air.

DarkTyrannomon spotted them instantly, which was an impressive feat for such a huge Digimon. He turned around, his tail smashing into several buildings and shattering windows as he did so. XV-Mon raised his hands in a fighting pose as Stingmon glared coldly down at DarkTyrannomon.

“Fire Blast!” He roared. If the XV-Mon and and Stingmon hadn’t been so fast, they would have most certainly been incinerated. Daisuke held his digivice to his chest as Ken typed furiously on his D-Terminal, probably sending a message to their fellow Chosen. Probably something along the lines of ‘Big Digimon that wants to eat downtown Odiaba! Please send help!’

Daisuke forced himself to focus. XV-Mon shot down in a spiraling motion towards DarkTyrannomon, the large x-shaped mark on his chest beginning to glow.  
“X-Laser!” He roared and a powerful blast nearly knocked DarkTyrannomon into a nearby row of office buildings.

“XV-Mon!” Daisuke shouted up to his partner. “Be careful! There are people inside those buildings and we’ll crush them if DarkTyrannomon falls!” XV-Mon caught his gaze and only nodded to show he had heard.

Stingmon delivered the next blow, straight into DarkTyrannomon’s forehead. The enormous Digimon crashed into the street and smoke exploded from underneath the impact point, nearly blinding Daisuke and Ken and forcing them to squint to see the battle. They appeared to be winning, at least for now. DarkTyrannomon was blindly swatting at the two smaller Digimon his angry roars seeming to shake the very foundations of the earth.

Then, things started to go wrong.

DarkTyrannomon’s movements suddenly grew quicker and more agile, beginning to counter XV-Mon and Stingmon’s attacks with apparent ease. He knocked XV-Mon into the ground and then used his tail to throw Stingmon out of the air and nearly through a nearby building. Daisuke could hear the people inside screaming.

“What’s going on?” He demanded. “We were doing so well!” Ken didn’t respond, studying DarkTyrannomon carefully, before his eyes widened, and his hand instinctively went to the back of his neck, where the Dark Seed lay dormant under his skin. “Ken?” Daisuke asked, a bit concerned.

“Look at DarkTyrannomon,” Ken ordered. “Carefully. You see that?” Confused, Daisuke asked himself for a moment if his best friend had really lost it, until he noticed what Ken was talking about.

There was a sinister violet aura surrounding DarkTyrannomon. It was dull, and hard to notice, but definitely there.

“That’s an aura of Darkness,” Ken said grimly. “From what, I don’t know. But it’s making DarkTyrannomon stronger and letting him counter XV-Mon and Stingmon!”

“We have to get rid of it!” Daisuke said confidently, glancing around for anyone that could have been supplying the dinosaur Digimon with the aura. However, the area was devoid, except for a few pieces of rubble that lay on the streets.

“I don’t think we can,” Ken had his eyes trained on the battle they were rapidly starting to lose. “Maybe...once the others get here, we can beat him. But for now we have to hold out on our own.”

“What do you mean we can’t?!” Daisuke was scandalized. “There has to be a way, there’s always a way to get rid of darkness!”

“I-” Ken’s eyes widened. “Daisuke watch out!” The gogglehead’s attention turned to the battle, where DarkTyrannomon had started lobbing rubble at XV-Mon and Stingmon. XV-Mon had just narrowly avoided a large chunk of rubble that was now sailing through the air.

Straight towards Daisuke.

Daisuke’s eyes widened and he seemed rooted to the spot, unable to move as the boulder hurled towards him. The world around him began moving in slow motion as Ken shouted at him to move, running towards Daisuke with his arms outstretched, as if he were going to shove him out of the way. The chunk of rubble came closer. Daisuke squeezed his eyes shut, throwing his arms over his head to protect himself, bracing himself for an impact.

It didn’t come.

There was an enormous explosion and bits of rock flew everywhere, scratching Daisuke’s face and arms. Opening his eyes in surprise, Daisuke turned to see and unfamiliar Digimon standing in front of him, it’s arms outstretched and the boulder in pieces before it.

 

It was wolf-like in appearance with dark black gloves and matching leather straps on its arms and legs. It was blue in color, murderous icy eyes flashing up at DarkTyrannomon.

“Strabimon!” He heard someone shout and turned around to see a girl with long blonde hair to her back and startling green eyes racing towards them. He recognized her instantly as his classmate, Orimoto Izumi.

His eyes widened.

The Digimon (apparently named Strabimon) turned his head in acknowledgement before racing off to join the battle. XV-Mon was fighting harder than ever now that his partner had nearly been killed.

“Lichet Bein!”

“X-Laser!”

“Spiking Finish!”

Three attacks went off at once, blasting DarkTyrannomon off of his feet. Another ear-shattering roar burst from the angry Digimon’s lips and Daisuke noticed as the violet aura began deepening as it got to it’s feet, gashes deep in it’s skin.

A thought occurred to Daisuke.

“Ken!” He shouted, dimly aware of Izumi running up to them. “I’ve got an idea, and it’s stupid!” If Miyako were here, she would have said something real intelligent. Something along the lines of, ‘like most of your ideas?!’ But luckily, this was Ken, who merely nodded, keeping his attention on the battle.

“What is it?”

“It seems the angrier DarkTyrannomon gets, the darker the aura becomes!” Daisuke said. “So all we gotta do is calm him down!”

“Are you crazy?!” Izumi gaped at him and for the first time, Daisuke fully registered he was here. The second thing he realized that she was in a battle with a Digimon and was totally fine with it. Daisuke then realized that she was one of the Legendary Warriors they were looking for.

“Probably!” Daisuke realized he had been staring and turned away. “But it looks like your partner, Strabimon uses attacks of Light. That’s good, right? Light fights back the Darkness!”

“Where are you going with this, Daisuke?” Ken asked, tearing his gaze away from the fight.

“Not sure,” Daisuke admitted. “But if we can calm him down enough to strike the source of the aura…” Ken’s expression lit up as he suddenly understood.

“There!” He shouted, pointing towards DarkTyrannomon. Daisuke followed the direction and noticed a spot on his back that was glowing a brighter violet than the others. "That weird spot! Right there!" Izumi narrowed her eyes. 

"What spot? What are you talking about?" 

Daisuke gaped at her, mouth hanging open. The spot was painfully obvious. It pulsated with an angry violet light, and spread throughout DarkTyrannomon, reinforcing the aura that surrounded him. It was near impossible that Izumi couldn't see it. 

"It's right there!" He said, pointing. Izumi followed it and shook her head, still looking utterly lost. Daisuke and Ken exchanged looks. If Izumi couldn't see the spot, that probably meant Strabimon couldn't either. That made it difficult to attack the spot head-on. Ken glanced at Izumi and then back at the spot, his expression lighting up. Daisuke recognized the look; Ken had a plan.

"It's at the base of the tail," Ken said, sounding surprisingly calm. "In the little groove. Order Strabimon to attack there, and I'm pretty sure we win this!" Izumi still didn't look entirely convinced, but nodded. Much to Daisuke's relief, she turned her attention back to the battle with her resolve set. 

“Hey, Strabimon!” She shouted, catching the Digimon’s attention. He turned around and Izumi pointed to the glowing spot blindly. “Attack there!” Strabimon’s gaze fixed on where she was pointing, visible confusion spreading across his face. "I know, but these guys can see something we can't! We just gotta trust them!" Strabimon hesitated for a moment, but nodded, deciding to trust Izumi. 

“Stingmon! XV-Mon” Ken chimed in. “Keep DarkTyrannomon’s attention on you! Get him to calm down enough so he stops thrashing! Stabimon will take it from there.”

“Got it!” The two Digimon responded. They began to dodge attacks more fluently, trying to reason with DarkTyrannomon rather than fight him. The aura began to dim around him.

“Now!” Izumi ordered, but it seemed Strabimon had already seen his opportunity. He darted forwards, quicker than Daisuke could follow, his claws beginning to glow brightly with pure light.

“Lichet Nagel!” He roared, attacking rapidly. A moment later, the aura shattered from around DarkTyrannomon. He roared, arching backwards, his entire form shuddering. Strabimon leapt away from the Digimon as it suddenly shattered into a million pieces of data that vanished into the air. A Digitama rose into the sky a moment later.

Daisuke held his breath for a moment, waiting for DarkTyrannomon to return, but he didn’t Relief flooded him and he couldn’t help himself as he threw his arms into the air and cheered.

“Good job, Daisuke,” Ken smiled at his best friend and Daisuke gave him a cheerful fist bump before remembering Izumi and turning around.

“Holy-!” He didn’t finish his sentence as XV-Mon and Stingmon returned to their original forms. “You’re a Legendary Warrior!” Izumi looked a little smug as Strabimon walked over to her.

“Yes,” She agreed. “I am. You must be one of the Chosen Children I was told about.”

“I can’t believe I was in a class with a Legendary Warrior this whole time!” Daisuke groaned. Ken walked over, glancing at Strabimon.

“Your partner did well,” He complemented and Strabimon raised an eyebrow, which looked really strange on his wolfish features.

“Partner?” He repeated and Izumi glanced at him.

“No, no, Strabimon’s not my partner,” She said, shaking her head. “He’s uh…It’s hard to explain…” She sighed, rubbing the back of her head and Strabimon nodded in agreement.

“We’ve got time,” Daisuke said enthusiastically. “The rest of our team is almost here and I’m willing to bet yours is nearby!”

“It is,” Strabimon agreed. “If Takuya didn’t run off again.”

“Takuya?! He’s a Legendary Warrior too?!”

When Izumi and Strabimon nodded, Daisuke’s head began swimming. He couldn’t believe he had been surrounded by Legendary Warriors all this time and hadn’t known it. Izumi glanced around nervously as the smoke from the battle began to fade and police sirens began to wail through the thick fog.

“We should probably leave before the police show up,” She advised. “We’ve also go a lot to talk about. Follow me, we’ll take you to the rest of our team.” Daisuke nodded eagerly as V-Mon, now Chibimon, crawled exhaustedly up onto his shoulder. Ken picked up Wormmon and the two of them followed Izumi and Strabimon into the alleyway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love Daisuke. He deserves more appreciation. Pure child, but nobody likes him D:


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kouji is angry (when is he not?) Takuya and Daisuke collide (quite literally) and the two teams meet. Character introductions, arguments, and discussions about what to do follow.

Getting stuck in his Digimon form was _not_ on Kouji’s to-do list.

While Strabimon was faster, more powerful, and possessed the powers of Kouji’s element of Light, he much preferred his human body. At least in _that_ form he could actually see normally. In Strabimon’s form, everything was washed in a white glow that was starting to grate on Kouji’s nerves.

Izumi glanced at Kouji nervously over her shoulder. He trailed behind her, Daisuke, and Ken and he inclined with his head as if to tell her to keep moving.

While they walked, Kouji did everything he could think of (aside from anything embarrassing) to revert to his human form. He closed his eyes, concentrated, and did his best to recreate himself as human in his mind. None of it worked. Every time Kouji felt anything close to resembling the feeling he got while reverting to his original form, he was _still_ Strabimon.

It was infuriating.

As the wail of the police sirens faded into background noise, Izumi lead the group out into the neighboring street. It was crowded with people gazing curiously around. No doubt they had heard DarkTyrannomon’s roars and were wondering where it came from.

“Where are your teammates?” Ken’s tone was familiar to Kouji. It was guarded, wary. He often spoke like that.

“Back at the park,” Izumi didn’t seem to notice how suspicious Ken was. “We’re just going to have to take the long way there. If we’re caught in the middle of that, we’ll get _more_ than a few questions.”

Ken and Daisuke only nodded and followed Izumi down the street. Kouji brought up the rear, arms folded, an uneasy glare burning into the backs of the other two boys. Daisuke gave him a weird glance over his shoulder but promptly looked away after Ken nudged him with his elbow.This repeated several times, and Kouji watched with increasing irritation as each time Ken elbowed Daisuke like it was _rude_ or something.

“If you have something to say,” Kouji snapped without thinking. “Say it.”

Daisuke turned his head again. Izumi watched warily as the group stopped in the middle of the crowded streets. Heads turned. People began whispering and pointing out Kouji’s strange appearance. Ken and Izumi looked at them, the former of the two trying to hide his partner from the onlookers with his foot.

“Well?” Kouji hated the fact that he actually had to look _up_ to address Daisuke.

The red-haired Chosen scratched the back of his head. “I was just...thinking. You don’t look like any Digimon I’ve ever seen.”

“That’s because I’m _not,”_ Kouji snorted. “I’m human. I transformed into a Digimon.”

Daisuke’s mouth dropped open. “No way. That’s impossible.”

“I’m pretty sure you thought the same thing about a different world made entirely out of data,” Kouji countered easily. Daisuke opened his mouth to respond when a brunette blur nearly knocked him to the ground. It made for a very awkward collision where Daisuke and his assaulter lurched away from each other, holding their foreheads.

Kouji snorted. “Nice going, Takuya.”

Takuya let out a pitiful moan in response, massaging his head. “Ow...Jesus, buddy, is your head made out of rocks?”

“I could ask you the same thing,” Daisuke muttered as Chibimon crawled up onto his head. Takuya spotted him immediately.

“Digimon!” He shouted dramatically, pointing at it.

“Human!” Chibimon shouted in response.

“Idiots,” Kouji muttered under his breath. Izumi pinched the bridge of her nose as Daisuke, Takuya, and Chibimon all gawked at each other.

“Takuya, I told you guys to wait at the park,” She scolded.

“Says the girl that went after Kouji,” Takuya shot back. “You could have been hurt or gotten stuck in your Digimon form like Kouji!” His cheeks flushed a light tinge of pink as he said this, immediately avoiding Izumi’s gaze. “N-Not that I care or anything.”

Izumi put her hands on her hips. “Wow, real thoughtful, Takuya.”

“I’m just _saying!”_

Izumi sighed exasperatedly as Junpei, Kouichi, and Tomoki caught up to the ever-growing group. All three of them were panting, their hands on their knees.

“Next time you decide to run off like that, tell us.” Junpei’s expression was strained.

“Got it,” Takuya scratched the back of his head sheepishly, before remembering Chibimon and spinning around, gawking at the small Digimon perched on Daisuke’s shoulder. “You have a Digimon!”

“And you know about Digimon!” Daisuke agreed.

“Well, yeah,” Takuya said. “I’m a Legendary Warrior. Of _course_ I know what Digimon are!” Kouji rolled his eyes at the brunette’s bluntness, resisting the urge to punch him. He’d probably actually hurt Takuya now that he wasn’t a human.

“I’m so confused,” Daisuke scratched the back of his head. He exchanged a look with Chibimon, who shrugged in response.

“I’m sending a message to the others,” Ken was sliding something into his pocket. From what Kouji saw of it, it looked suspiciously like a small handheld gaming console. He couldn’t be sure though.

“With what?” He asked sharply.

“Our D-Terminals,” Ken answered honestly.

“D-what?” Tomoki tilted his head. The rest of the Warriors looked equally as confused. Daisuke’s mouth fell open.

“You mean you guys don’t have D-Terminals?” He asked. “How do you even communicate with each other then?!”

“We don’t,” Izumi admitted. “Usually when we get split up we can communicate through our D-Scanners or we miraculously find each other.”

“Or, in Kouji’s case, we just have to find the battle,” Takuya supplied unhelpfully. Kouji shot him a wolfish glare, but his best friend just grinned at him.

“Anyways,” Ken turned to Daisuke. “I told them to meet us at the park. We should get going if we want to meet them there.” There was a chorus agreement from the group, and they began hurrying off, towards the direction of the park.

 

Taichi could see Daisuke and Ken in the distance. They were conversing with a group of teenagers that looked about their age, if not younger. Yamato made a quizzical noise beside him as Miyako and Iori ran to greet them, Hikari and Takeru right behind them. Taichi glanced at his best friend. 

"What's up?" He asked.

Yamato crossed his arms. "We’re still the oldest.”

Taichi snickered. “That’s really on your mind right now?”

Yamato gave his best friend a complete poker face. “Yes.” Taichi rolled his eyes as they joined the group, who were all chatting with each other. Hikari seemed to recognize a few of them, Daisuke and Takeru as well. Taichi scanned the group of other Chosen Children, immediately recognizing a unruly head of brown hair.

“Takuya!”

“Taichi?”

The two boys stared at each other, before the younger of the two burst out laughing.

“Should have known!” Takuya said. “You’re exactly the type to be a Chosen!” Taichi laughed, knocking his fist against the younger brunette’s and turning to the rest of the group.

“I’m sure some kind of introductions are in order,” A quiet boy with shaggy raven hair spoke up. Hikari’s eyes narrowed in distrust immediately, stepping back from him. Standing next to the boy was a Digimon, who Taichi thought had to be the boy’s partner. The wolf-Digimon nodded in agreement, looking a bit annoyed.

“I’ll start,” Daisuke said, throwing his hand eagerly into the air. “I’m Motomiya Daisuke! This is my partner, Chibimon!” Only the small boy with the outrageous orange hat and the boy in the jumpsuit seemed surprised by this information.

“My name is Inoue Miyako,” Miyako said, smiling. “This is my partner, Poromon.” She guestured to the small fuzzball with wings, nestled safely in the crook of her arms.

“I guess I’m next,” Ken said quietly. “My name is Ichijouji Ken. And this is my partner, Minomon.” He smiled down at the Digimon, sleeping peacefully in his arms.

“Ichijouji Ken?!” The blonde girl’s mouth fell open. “As in the boy genius from Tamachi?” Ken looked a bit uncomfortable as he nodded, trying to avoid the girl’s gaze.

“Whoa,” The small boy with the pumpkin hat breathed.

“Anyways,” Iori prompted, sensing Ken’s distress. “My name is Hida Iori. This is my partner, Upamon.”

“It’s nice to meet you!” Upamon squeaked from his place on top of Iori’s head.

“Takashi Takeru,” Takeru introduced himself. “And this is Patamon.” He looked up at his partner on his hat, not expecting the Warriors to shout, “Patamon!” as if they knew him. Patamon stared at them all blankly, until the boy in the jumpsuit cleared his throat awkwardly.

“N-Nevermind. Continue.”

“Yagami Hikari,” Taichi’s little sister hadn’t torn her distrustful gaze away from the raven-haired boy, who smiled kindly at her. “This is Tailmon, my partner.” The Digimon in question purred, clinging onto Hikari’s shoulder.

“Yagami Taichi!” Taichi said brightly. “I’m Hikari’s elder brother. And this is Agumon!” He tapped the orange dinosaur at his side on the head.

“Ishida Yamato,” The blonde next to Taichi said. “I’m Takeru’s older brother. And this is Gabumon.” He smiled thinly while Gabumon waved politely.

“Takenouchi Sora,” Sora bowed respectfully. “And this is Piyomon.”

“I’m Izumi Koushiro,” Their residential computer wizz said. True to his personality, Koushiro held his trusty laptop in his arms. “And this is Tentomon.”

“Tachikawa Mimi,” Mimi said with a dramatic flourish, the grin on her face never fading. “And this is Palmon.” Her partner mimicked her movements, making Mimi laugh.

“Kido Jou,” The soon-to-be doctor said, a bit hesitantly. “And this is Gomamon.” He guestured to his partner at his side, who waved enthusiastically at the other group.

“Guess it’s our turn, huh?” Takuya said brightly. “Kanbara Takuya, Legendary Warrior of Flame, at your service.”

“Orimoto Izumi,” The blonde said brightly. “Legendary Warrior of Wind.”

“Himi Tomoki!” The small boy with the enormous orange hat exchanged a look with Iori. Taichi didn’t have to guess to know that the two of them knew each other. “Legendary Warrior of Ice!”

“Shibayama Junpei,” The boy in the jumpsuit had his hands in his pockets and was smiling. “Legendary Warrior of Thunder.”

“Minamoto Kouji,” To Taichi’s surprise, the Digimon was the one that spoke. His expression was hard. “Legendary Warrior of Light. I’m Kouichi’s twin brother.” He glanced to the raven-haired boy as he spoke, who smiled at the Digimon.

“Hang on,” Mimi interrupted. “That can’t be right. You have a human name, but you’re a Digimon.”

“Trust me, I’m about as happy as you are at this predicament,” The Digimon apparently named Kouji grumbled. “It was a last ditch effort to stop that DarkTyrannomon.”

“That doesn’t make sense,” Koushiro interrupted, his eyebrows knitting. His laptop was already halfway open.

“Hang on, let them finish,” Taichi said, taking charge. He smiled at the final boy who had yet to introduce himself. The ravenette shifted uncomfortably training his eyes on the ground.

“K-Kimura Kouichi,” He paused for a moment, and Taichi wondered briefly if he was doing it for dramatic effect. Then, he set his expression and looked up, hands curling into fists at his sides. “The Legendary Warrior of Darkness.”

The silence that followed was deafening. Kouji glared at the group, waiting for them to say something, while the rest of the Warriors looked equally as uncomfortable. As one, they all moved closer to Kouji, as if someone would attack.

“Well,” Taichi spoke, knowing he had to lighten the mood. “It’s-”

“I knew it.”

Hikari cut across him. Taichi blinked at her in surprise, but she wasn’t looking at him. Her eyes were trained on Kouichi, who stared back at her.

“I knew there was something untrustworthy about you,” Hikari continued. "I can't  _believe_ I have to sit next to you in class!" Tailmon was standing up on her partner’s shoulder, ready to attack.

Kouichi smiled. “I’m afraid I don’t understand.”

“ _You’re_ darkness,” Hikari said roughly. “You’re the embodiment of everything us Chosen have been fighting against since the beginning. How can you even trust him?!” Her last statement was directed at the rest of the Warriors.

“Hey-!” Izumi started angrily, but Kouichi cut across her, putting a hand on her shoulder and stepping forwards. Kouji growled at Hikari from his brother’s side.

“Yes,” He agreed. “It’s true. I am the Legendary Warrior of Darkness.” At his words, Hikari and Takeru both exchanged dark glances. “But that doesn’t mean I’m evil. Darkness isn’t evil unless you chose it to be. I’m sure your friend, Ken, knows what I’m talking about. I can tell he’s had his own fair share of experiences with Darkness before.” Ken flinched at Kouichi’s words, turning his head away.

Takeru’s expression darkened. “You don’t know the first thing about Ken or anything he’s been through!”

“We could say the same to you about Kouichi!” Takuya spoke up. Izumi stepped on his foot hard, and he hissed in pain. “What? It’s true!”

“In all its forms, Darkness is evil.” Takeru ignored him. “It never gives. It only takes.” He held Patamon tighter to his chest as he spoke.

“If this is going to be a group of Chosen Children that stop evil, we can’t let him be a part of it,” Hikari turned to face her brother. “He’s untrustworthy. Right?” Taichi blinked at his sister, wondering where this sudden hostility had come from. He opened his mouth to respond, when Kouji stepped in.

“You guys sound like you don’t know the first thing about darkness,” He snarled. Hikari’s gaze flashed towards him, and even Taichi had to wince at that. They had all had their fair share of experiences with darkness - they all knew it pretty well.

“Say that to yourself!” Takeru said stubbornly. “You’re allowing yourselves to be a part of a team with _darkness!_ If you trust it, clearly you don’t know anything about it!”

Kouji laughed humorlessly. All of the Warriors drew themselves even closer to Kouichi.

“My _brother_ is the Warrior of Darkness,” He snarled. “I’m pretty sure I know a lot more about Darkness than _you_ do.” Takeru and Hikari both stepped forwards, ready to defend their stances, but Taichi decided that enough was enough and stepped in.

“Stop it!” He said. “If we’re supposed to be a team, we can’t fight each other like this. Hikari, Takeru, back off. Kouji, you too.” He shot an angry look at the Digimon who glowered at him, but stepped away obediently to stand by his brother. Hikari and Takeru did the same.

“In the meantime,” Koushiro said, sitting down on the grass. Everyone else followed his lead. “I’d love to find out how...Kouji got stuck in that form.” At the words, Kouji grimaced, making Takuya laugh. Kouji kicked him and he yelped in pain.

“Ow!” He whined. “Your feet are _clawed_ now, Kouji! That hurt!” Kouji gave him a dry look. Taichi mentally admitted how strange it looked on a wolf.

"You deserved it!"

"How?!" Takuya clutched his injury. " _Ow!_ I seriously think it's bleeding, Kouji!"

"That sounds like a personal problem." 

"You caused it!" 

“Anyways,” Izumi knocked the two boys over the head. Both of them cried out. “I guess the only way to say _how_ is to explain. We all possess the spirits of the Ten Legendary Warriors and with our D-Scanners, we’re able to transform into our Digimon forms at will.”

“Wait,” Daisuke said. “You guys can _transform_ into Digimon?”

“I _told_ you this earlier!” Kouji said, still rubbing his head from Izumi's earlier assault.

“Well-” Daisuke started, but a single look from Sora kept him from continuing.

“Ever since we all got our spirits back,” Izumi continued, holding a hand to her chest. Her palm pressed flat against it, closing her eyes, as if searching inside of herself for something. “We’ve all been really sick. Apparently, our spirits had been really injured.”

“We know,” Hikari’s voice was brittle. She still had her gaze trained angrily on Kouichi.

“We were told by our friend, Gennai, in the Digital World,” Jou explained. “He showed us some DigiTamas too. Do you guys know who Ophanimon, Seraphimon, and Cherubimon are?” Gasps followed this and the Warriors exchanged uneasy looks.

“Yeah,” Junpei said carefully. “They’re the protectors of the Digital World. You guys don’t know them?”

“We haven’t been to the Digital World for an adventure in nearly a year,” Iori frowned. “Many things must have changed while we were gone.”

“Huh,” Junpei said, exchanging a look with Tomoki.

“But they’re DigiTamas?” Takuya prompted. “How? What happened?”

“Gennai didn’t explain,” Sora bit her lip. “He just said something about a Fallen Angel going around and destroying any Digimon with any connection to his enemies.”

“That’s the second time I’ve heard of this Fallen Angel,” Izumi said. “Fairymon told me about him, and now this…do you really think it could be…?”

“It can’t be,” Kouichi said, sounding a bit afraid to speak up. “You guys destroyed Lucemon last month. And his data was purified. It can’t be him.” That did nothing to help soothe the agitated nerves of his teammates, and while Taichi was confused, he didn’t press. It was clearly a sore subject. Mimi, on the other hand, was less tactful.

“Do you guys mean the Digimon that burst through Shibuya Station last month?” She asked. There was a collection of nodding.

“We stopped him before anything serious could happen,” Izumi promised. “It was...close though.”

“It sounds like you guys have some kind of idea of who this Fallen Angel is,” Koushiro said. “Mind sharing?”

“Lucemon,” Tomoki said without skipping a beat. Koushiro repeated the name under his breath, searching it into his Digimon database.

“No data,” He muttered. “Weird.”

“No way,” Yamato leaned over Koushiro to see. “He’s not kidding!” Koushiro squinted at his screen, beginning to tap away.

“What about you guys?” Tomoki’s eyes sparkled with curiosity. “What do your partners do? Can you merge with them to become Digimon?”

“Not quite,” Taichi laughed at the younger boy’s eagerness. He took his Digivice from where it was clipped securely onto his belt. “Our partners evolve through a process we just call Evolution.”

“If our emotions are heightened enough, or if we really need them too, we can make our partners evolve into the next stage of evolutions,” Sora stroked the back of Piyomon’s head. “But it takes a strong bond between human and Digimon to even make the smallest of Evolutions possible.”

“That’ so cool!” Izumi marveled. “Is that what you two did to your partners?” She directed the question at Ken and Daisuke, who both nodded, the latter of the two looking more smug.

“Yeah,” He patted Chibimon’s head on his lap. “You saw Stingmon and XV-Mon in action! Wish we could have DNA Evolved though.” He gave Ken a cheeky grin, who sighed.

“Paildramon would not have been necessary,” He told his best friend, who laughed.

“Would have looked cool though!”

“Daisuke, I swear…” Ken sighed, looking annoyed, but it was obvious he was trying to hide a smile.

“DNA Evolution?” Asked Kouichi, looking curious. Hikari and Takeru both shot him scathing looks.

“It’s a different type of Evolution our group discovered,” Miyako explained. “We can merge our Digimon’s adult forms to make an even stronger Digimon. Daisuke and Ken are the only ones that can force it beyond that.”

“So it’s kind of like our Double Spirit Evolution!” Izumi looked at Kouji and Takuya. Takuya grimaced.

“I don’t even want to imagine how hard that’ll be without a D-Scanner,” He grumbled. Mimi opened her mouth, probably to ask what Double Spirit Evolution was, but she was cut across by Koushiro’s frustrated groan.

“The Digimon Kouji is isn’t showing up either,” He sighed, glancing at Kouji. “Is there any way for you to return to your human form?”

Kouji shrugged. “You tell me, computer genius.”

Koushiro sighed. “Kouji, you better come with me back to my house. Kouichi...since you two are brothers, you can come too.” He ignored the scandalized look Hikari gave him as he stood up. Kouji and Kouichi followed suit.

“We have a lot to discuss,” Taichi dropped his chin into his palm. “We should set up a date to discuss all of this.”

“How about this weekend?” Tomoki suggested. “It’s the easiest for us.” The other Warriors nodded in agreement. 

“Yeah, works for me,” Taichi shrugged. “What about the rest of you guys?” There was a chorus of agreements from everyone in the rather large group. “It’s settled then! See you guys Saturday!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I WASN'T SURE HOW ELSE TO END IT SO HERE YOU GO THAT'S HOW I ENDED IT
> 
> Anyways, the two teams have met! Honestly, poor Kouichi. Wants to explain himself but Hikari and Takeru won't give him a chance. Is it obvious I don't like Hikari yet? Ah well, it'll be obvious soon. 
> 
> Anyways, I hope you enjoyed!


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Koushiro, Kouichi, and Kouji find out a surprising fact about Kouji's Digimon form. The other Chosen reflect on the day, and the possibilities it might bring to their new team.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Italics are flashbacks_

Kouichi wasn’t sure what he or his element had done to wrong Hikari and Takeru, and part of him wanted to do everything he could to amend it. The rest of him knew that there was nothing he could do to right what he had apparently done wrong.

It was with this mindset that he set after Koushiro, Kouji at his side. It was weird having his brother be so much shorter than he. Usually Kouji was just an inch taller, and it was comforting to have Kouji walk beside him. While Strabimon radiated the same warmth that Kouji’s human form did, it just wasn’t the same.

Koushiro chattered as they walked down the street, out of sight from any pedestrians that would see Kouji and immediately call the police. Kouichi learned much more in the span of five minutes than he had in any of his classes, as it seemed as soon as Koushiro got started on one thing or another, he wouldn’t stop until he was done.

And so, Kouichi listened to Koushiro’s lecture about all of his gadgets, most of which he had made from using his extensive knowledge of the Digital World. He even let slip parts of the adventure he and his friends had shared; a story Kouichi was more than interested in hearing. But he’d have to wait until Saturday to find out the full truth of all the other Chosen Children had suffered through. And they’d have to do the same.

They came upon a small apartment complex that Koushiro undoubtedly lived in. Kouichi tried to memorize where it was as they climbed the stairs up to the fourth floor. He had a hunch he and the others would come here quite often. Koushiro opened the door to a small neat apartment that was managed well from the looks of things. Tentomon buzzed around his head as he entered, gesturing for Kouichi and Kouji to follow. Respectfully removing his shoes as he went inside, Kouichi looked around and the white walls, adorned with family images of all sorts.

“It’s nice in here,” Kouichi remarked to his brother quietly. A faint smell of cinnamon was in the air. Kouji grunted, nodding in agreement.

“Yeah.”

“Hopefully we can find some way to return you to human,” Kouichi said, trying to lighten his brother’s sour mood. Although, Kouichi mentally admitted that it was rare to see Kouji _not_ in a bad mood. “That would be nice, wouldn’t it?”

“Yeah,” Kouji said again. “Hopefully this computer genius has some answers for us. Blitzmon wasn’t exactly very specific when he told Junpei about our evolutions.”

“He wasn’t,” Kouichi agreed. Setting his worn sneakers down neatly, Kouichi trailed after the way Koushiro had gone, seeing his red hair disappear behind a door.

“In here, guys!” Koushiro called from a bedroom down the hall. Kouichi pushed open the door to see Koushiro sitting at a desk, a computer with no less than three monitors sitting on top. It was already in its boot up sequence, with Koushiro sitting comfortably in a plush swivel chair. “Sit here,” Koushiro pointed to the bed tucked in the corner, looking at the brothers. They sat down obediently, quietly looking at the plain decor that adorned Koushiro’s room.

“Alright,” Kouji was quickly bored of this. “So tell me. How can I return back to my human form? I don’t want to be stuck as Strabimon for the rest of my life. My parents would _freak._ ”

“You haven’t told your parents about Digimon?” Tentomon twittered on the floor. Both Kouichi and Kouji shook their heads.

“I don’t think they’d believe us, anyways,” Kouichi said, smiling weakly. Koushiro and his partner exchanged knowing glances as the computer beeped quietly. Koushiro scooted forwards, towards Kouji and examined him up and down.

“Before I can tell you how to return to normal, I have to understand _how_ you managed to even pull this off.” Koushiro seemed to be marveling at the fact that there was a real _human boy_ underneath the layer of fur that covered Strabimon. “How did you reconfigure every single cell in your body to become Digital?”

“It’s...instinctive,” Kouji furrowed his wolfish brow. “I’ve done it so many times with my D-Scanner, it just feels normal. As to how this happened...I’m not very sure. This is all I remember...”

_There was a silent exchange of looks between the Warriors. Each lost in their own thoughts as they pondered the distinct possibility that as soon as they became Digimon, they might not ever return to their human forms. Gazes turned to Takuya, most of them wondering if he would be the first to transform, but the uneasy look on his face told a different story._

_Tomoki opened his mouth to speak, when an ear-shattering explosion made them all clap their hands to their ears. Junpei yelped as the earth shivered beneath their feet, nearly throwing them all to the ground._

_“What was that?!” He demanded, grabbing onto the tree to keep his balance._

_“I don’t know,” Kouji’s throat suddenly felt tight. He glanced towards the towering buildings in the distance, where the explosion had come from. A horrifying roar echoed from within, one that sent all of Kouji’s instincts on overdrive. There was only one explanation for this._

_“Digimon,” Takuya seemed to read Kouji’s thoughts._

_“But how?” Tomoki agreed, his hands curling into his pocket, as if reaching for the D-Scanner that wasn’t there._

_“Junpei,” Kouji turned towards the older boy. “Did Blitzmon say how to transform into our Digimon forms?”_

_“No,” Junpei looked pale. Kouji cursed under his breath, turning back towards the skyline. Smoke and dust were beginning to spiral into the sky. They had to get there. There was a possibility that the other Chosen that were looking for them were there, and Kouji had a strong urge to protect the innocent caught in the initial blast._

_His hands curled into fists._

_“We have to fight,” Takuya said, closing his eyes, as if trying to reach in to find Agnimon’s spirit. “We have to spirit evolve!”_

_“How?” Izumi said desperately. “We don’t have our D-Scanners!”_

_“We’re all part Digimon now!” Takuya said. “We can do it!" Even Takuya seemed to doubt his own words. In fact, their near-fearless leader looked a bit afraid himself. Hesitant. Something was eating away at him, but his sense of justice was overloading everything else._

_As was Kouji’s._

_Kouji stepped forwards, looking up at the smoke that spiraled into the sky and into the clouds. He closed his eyes, searching for Wolfmon’s spirit inside of him. When he felt it, he immediately asked his partner the question that was on everyone’s minds_

_“What should I do to spirit evolve?”_

_Wolfmon’s answer was immediate. “Believe.”_

_At first, Kouji was incredulous. He knew he could become a Digimon, so belief wasn’t a part of it. He was the Legendary Warrior of Light. He had to protect those people. So why was Wolfmon’s simple response ‘believe?’_

_The answer came to Kouji a moment later._

_Believing wasn’t implying the ability to transform, it was implying Kouji’s own will. He had to believe to save those people. He had to believe in Wolfmon to transform him. And most of all, he had to believe in his own abilities to protect those he cared about._

_Kouji felt a pull in his gut. His entire body began to glow, turning the rest of the Warrior’s attention onto him. He heard Kouichi call his name hesitantly._

_And then everything went white._

As Kouji finished, Koushiro leaned back in his swivel chair, looking deep in thought. Kouichi looked away from his brother, down at his clasped hands in his lap.

“You started screaming after that,” Kouichi recalled. “You sounded like you were in serious pain and none of us knew what to do. Next thing we know, the light’s gone and you’re in Strabimon’s form and you and Izumi ran to stop Dark Tyrannomon.”

“Interesting…” Koushiro seemed to be taking mental notes with each word. “Anything else you can tell me?” Kouji shook his head.

“That’s all I remember.”

“I see,” Koushiro scooted his chair across the wooden floor back to his computer. “I’m sorry, Kouji, but I might have to run a few tests on your body. Is that alright?”

“Do what you want,” Kouichi might have said that Kouji looked a bit bored as he said this, turning his gaze up to the ceiling and glaring at it like it had done him some huge offense.

Two hours, a few snacks, and countless tests later, Koushiro let out an excited shout as Kouji sat back, wires in his left arm, right hand, back, chest and forehead all connecting him to the computer. Koushiro immediately began typing, eyes alight with curiosity.

“That’s _it!”_

“Mind telling us?” Kouji asked irritably. It seemed the tests that had been run on him had only increased his bad mood.

Koushiro spun around on his chair, the grin on his face making him look akin to a mad scientist. “Your bodies have been reconfigured!”

“Yeah, no kidding,” Kouji raised his arm, covered in black leather and fur. “How’d you guess that, Sherlock?”

“Not in that way!” Koushiro pushed Kouji’s arm back down to his lap. “I _mean_ that you’re entire human body has been reconfigured to scan and store Digimon data!”

“What?” Kouji was entirely lost. Kouichi narrowed his eyes, thinking hard. If Koushiro was talking about storing data, he could be implying the spirits that he and the other Warriors had fused themselves with. They were basically storing the data of their spirits, calling upon it at a whim, (a very difficult whim, might he add) to protect and stop evil through the Digital World. If their bodies could also _scan_ this data, that would make them the equivalent of…

The answer hit Kouichi like a ton of bricks.

“Oh,” He said quietly. “We’re basically walking D-Scanners.”

Kouji turned to him, eyes wide. “What?!”

“That’s right!” Koushiro said proudly. “D-Scanners are what you guys used to transform into your Digimon forms, right? But they’ve been destroyed. Before, it seems that the D-Scanner acted as some sort of barrier to keep your human self and your Digimon self separate, to keep you from being fully Digimon. But now that they’re gone, your bodies are now that barrier.”

“What?” Kouji squinted.

“It’s like I said,” Kouichi’s hands were shaking. “We’ve _become_ our D-Scanners, essentially.”

Koushiro squinted at his computer screen. “It seems there’s a Digital Presence deep inside of Kouji that’s fused himself and reconfigured half of Kouji’s body to be entirely data, leaving the other half to be human. That’s what’s allowing him to scan and store data. But now that he’s Digimon, the human shield is gone.”

“So basically I’m stuck as a Digimon,” Kouji’s tone had turned cold and afraid.

Koushiro crossed his arms. “I don’t know. In theory, you should be able to return to human just as you normally would. But obviously, that’s not the case.”

“You could ask Wolfmon again,” Kouichi suggested, almost timidly. The livid expression on his brother’s face was enough to make him almost hesitant to speak.

“I did. He just told me to ‘believe’ again.” Kouji sighed. “But I’ve got no idea what I’m supposed to believe in this time.”

Koushiro straightened up in his chair. “I’m going to figure this out, don’t worry. There has to be a way.” He turned back to his computer, tapping on it and squinting at the screen.

Kouichi turned to his brother while Koushiro was distracted. “Explains a lot, doesn’t it?”

“What?” Kouji frowned.

“How we’re able to house our Digimon’s spirits, but still remain human,” Kouichi said. He laughed humorlessly. “I guess we really are half-human half-Digimon.”

 

Hikari could still hear her pulse in her ears.

She walked with Tailmon in her arms, limp as a stuffed animal, Takeru at her side. As soon as the Chosen had split off from the park, the two of them had blended into the crowd with their Digimon. Patamon was in Takeru’s arms, almost being squeezed against the blonde’s chest.

“I can’t believe this,” Hikari seethed. “Darkness! We’re supposed to be working with _darkness!”_

“I know,” Takeru agreed. “How can they even stand him? If they’ve adventured in the Digital World, they should _know_ how terrible Darkness is! It almost took Patamon from me, for crying out loud!”

Hikari kicked a rock with her foot as she walked, gritting her teeth. She remembered all too well the story Takeru had told her about how close he had been to losing his partner. He had his own very justified reasons for hating darkness.

Hikari thought she had the same. She was bearer of the Crest of Light. She represented everything good about the Digital World. And then, the Warrior of Darkness appears and attempts to act like he had no idea what he’s done wrong? The thought made Hikari’s blood boil.

Darkness was evil. No matter what form it took, an evil Digimon bent on world domination or a boy her age with a kind smile, it was evil. It wasn’t to be trusted.

Hikari knew that better than anyone.

“I can’t believe it’s Kouichi, either,” Hikari whispered, gripping Tailmon tighter in her arms. “He always seemed so _nice._ He always gave me his notes when I asked and was never rude to anyone. Who knew it was all just _fake._ ” Hikari kicked another rock. Kouichi had always been so calm and quiet, kind and never rose his voice. But now she knew that it was all fake. Everything about him was false, right down to his sickeningly sweet personality.

“And Kouji,” Takeru agreed. “How can he stand to be _brothers_ with him? Light and Darkness don’t belong together. Why are they acting like they are?”

“I don’t know,” Hikari’s voice was clipped. “Maybe they just haven’t had the same experiences as us.”

“I’m sure they’ve had experiences with darkness,” Takeru’s expression was suddenly anxious. “Just in different forms.”

“They obviously haven’t seen darkness enough,” Hikari said haughtily. “Especially if they allow someone that _represents_ darkness on their team. He even tried to bring Ken into this! As if Ken’s situation had anything to do with Kouichi’s!”

Her hands curled into fists around Tailmon. Her partner hissed in pain, squirming. She immediately relaxed her grip and took in deep breaths, trying to clear her thoughts.

But she couldn't. Not when she knows that in this team, of Hope and Light, and a team meant to stand for _good_ was now fighting alongside Darkness.

 

Takuya didn’t want to turn into a Digimon.

Since he’d had the misfortune to be stuck as Flamon for a time during their adventure in the Digital World, he had no desire to repeat it. Even the thought made Takuya’s skin crawl uncomfortably. He absolutely, flat out, _refused_ to let his own transformation take place without a way to turn back.

It was with this thought that he set out across the street, heading towards home. He was the only one that lived up this way, much to his displeasure. He hated being alone, more than anything. But more often than not, he found himself roaming the streets without companionship.

Tonight was no exception.

Takuya walked silently, hands in his pockets, as he let his thoughts wander. Today’s events were definitely something else. Kouji’s transformation, and finally meeting the other elusive team of Chosen Children hadn’t been on his mind when he thought about what he would have liked to have happen today, but he wasn’t upset that it was. In fact, all day Agnimon seemed rather pleased that it had happened. Takuya wasn’t sure why, he had a feeling he’d find out in due time.

Takuya paused, turning his gaze up to the first of the stars that were beginning to poke out of the rapidly darkening sky. He hadn’t realized it had gotten so late. His mother was probably worried. But for some reason, Takuya didn’t move. He kept his eyes trained on the stars, imagining the ones that shone in the Digital World. He remembered the three moons that occasionally aligned, giving the Warriors a spectacular light show in the middle of the night.

He missed that world. He wanted to go back.

But the only way to go back, he felt, was turning into Flamon. He’d be stuck again, in a form he did not want. Unable to return to human, unable to look down at his own hands without seeing claws on the tips of his fingers. To breathe out, and have flames instead of breath escape him.

The thought was scary. Takuya didn’t want to feel that helpless again. Feel as though the entire world was against him. Feel so _alone_ again.

Takuya’s hands curled into fists in his pockets, remembering the way he was chased by Duskmon through his hometown in a vision that he still wasn’t sure was a dream or not. He was scared then. He was scared now.

“Agnimon?” Takuya spoke aloud. He didn’t wait for him to respond, knowing that his partner was listening anyways. “Is it wrong? To be afraid?”

 _Afraid of what?_ Agnimon seemed to ask him.

“Afraid of turning into Flamon,” Takuya’s shaking hands curled into fists. “Afraid of feeling that...alone again. I hate being alone, Agnimon.”

_I know. It’s not wrong, Takuya._

“Then...why do I feel like it is?”

Kouji had fearlessly stepped across the line that grounded them as human. The line that kept the parts of them that were Digimon separate from the parts of them that were human. Takuya had no doubt that the rest of his friends would do the same. And yet, he would hesitate. He always would. He always will.

_It’s not wrong. You have dealt with some things the other have not. It’s not wrong to fear what will come, Takuya._

“But...this is stupid. I should be afraid of this. It’s just a spirit evolution. I’ve done it a million times before.”

_It’s not stupid. Your feelings are valid, and the others will understand that._

"What if they don't?" 

 _Believe in them, Takuya. And believe in yourself._  

"But I'm scared," Takuya whispered. His eyes traced patterns in the stars. "I don't know what to do. I don't know what I'm  _supposed_ to do. Everyone is always expecting me to be a leader." 

_And you are a leader, Takuya. You are brave, selfless, and loyal to a fault. This fear does not define nor control you. The others will understand this. But, ultimately, whether you chose to rise above this and face your fears is up to you._

“Yeah,” Takuya muttered under his breath. “Yeah...I know.”

And he continued onwards into the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oops that was an unnecessarily dramatic ending.
> 
> Next chapter will finally get back on some action so it's not just character development (as fun as that is) and inner struggles. At least we got some sort of closure on how Kouji got stuck as Strabimon. Although that probably doesn't mean much. 
> 
> ANYWAYS HOPE YOU ENJOYED! Please feel free to leave a comment if you did, I love hearing from you guys <3


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Izumi and Sora discuss what she, Kouji, Ken, and Daisuke saw during their battle with DarkTyrannomon. And then, they get attacked. What fun

Two days after, Junpei was on his way home with Miyako, Sora, and Izumi when they were attacked.

Izumi and Sora were becoming fast friends, comparing stories and jokes, while Piyomon trotted alongside them with Poromon in Miyako’s arms. Junpei and Miyako made awkward small talk, and Junpei felt his thoughts straying away from what Miyako’s favorite color was (its was purple, in case an eavesdropping Izumi wanted to know) and to Kouji’s strange transformation into Strabimon. Wanted or not, it had brought the two teams together.

“Was there anything...off about the DarkTyrannomon attack?” He heard Sora ask after an awkward pause of silence. Miyako glanced over, her interest piqued.

Izumi pursed her lips. “Ken and Daisuke both saw something during the battle. I...I’m not sure what it was, Daisuke just said it was an ‘aura’ of some kind and we had to strike the source of it.”

Sora and Miyako exchanged looks.

“I didn't see what they were talking about,” Izumi continued, furrowing her eyebrows. “Ken told me where it was and I decided to trust him. And when Kouji struck it, DarkTyrannomon just...died.”

Izumi’s story was...disturbing, to say the least. It gave Junpei a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach, and it wasn’t because he was hungry.

“It must have been feeding off of that,” Miyako said carefully. “That...Dark Spot, I guess. But where did it come from?”

“I’m not sure we want to find out,” Junpei’s throat was dry. Sora nodded in silent agreement and Izumi made a face. They passed by a small apartment complex when Junpei suddenly felt like he had been doused in ice water. He froze mid-step, unable to move. Malicious intent washed over Junpei, and he could feel every instinct of every part of his body, Digimon and Human, telling him to _run._

 _Run._ Blitzmon echoed this thought. Junpei shoved both palms into Izumi’s back at the instruction, making her stumble.

“Junpei, what-”

“ _Run!”_

Junpei dove forwards, Miyako hot on his tail. Every nerve was on fire with fear, afraid to look back for even a second to catch a glimpse of what even Blitzmon had been so afraid of and-

The apartment building exploded.

The four ducked to the ground, Piyomon and Poromon letting out alarmed shrieks as their partners shielded them. Junpei held his hands over his head to protect it as the ground rumbled with the force of a bomb. Debris rained around them, dust rising from the ruins as pedestrians ran in all directions, screaming.

Then, out of the smoking ruins of the apartment building, emerged a Digimon. He was tall and formidable, tentacles hanging off of him like some kind of horrible thread, dragon wings at his back. He released a horrifying shriek through an open maw that dripped saliva.

 _Run._ Blitzmon said again. Junpei didn’t move.

“What is _that?!”_ Izumi screamed as the monster took a step, one of it’s massive tentacle covered arms brushing against the still-standing remains of the apartment building. Debris rained down on them.

“Dagomon!” Piyomon squawked in alarm. “Not good, not good! He’s at Perfect level, angry, and might squish us if we’re not careful!”

“Dagomon?” Izumi gasped, glancing up at the hulking Digimon. While the name was unfamiliar to Junpei, all sorts of alarms were ringing in his head as he staggered to his feet, pressing his hand against a boulder of debris to help him regain his balance.

 _Run._ Said Blitzmon.

“Run,” Junpei repeated. “We have to run!”

“And leave this thing to destroy the town?!” Miyako demanded, holding Poromon to her chest.

“Blitzmon told me to! When your partner says to run, you _listen!”_ Junpei hauled Izumi to her feet. “Come on, let’s go!”

“Hold on-” Miyako tried to protest, but anything she had to say died on her tongue with Dagomon’s roar. Junpei grabbed onto her wrist and took off as Sora began to send a frantic message for help to the others.

Junpei managed to glance behind him, swallowing down the fear that rose in his stomach. Dagomon’s small red eyes fixed upon him and Junpei took notice in the angry violet aura that suddenly flamed up and around him.

Dagomon let out a bellow of rage. “ _Blitzmon!”_

Junpei’s fear shot up to unimaginable heights. He couldn’t tell if that was his own or Blitzmon’s, or even how Dagomon knew his partner. All he knew was that he was in trouble, and Dagomon had a particular interest in killing Junpei first.

Dagomon swooped down. Each step an earthquake as he made Izumi, Miyako, Sora, and Junpei stumble as they ran. Fear kept Junpei moving as he staggered, but he knew they couldn’t outrun Dagomon. The best they could do was confuse him until they figured out how to deal with him.

Another step sent Junpei toppling.

He let out an alarmed shriek as the other’s miraculously managed to stay on their feet. Sora turned at his scream, her eyes widening as Dagomon reached down for him.

“Junpei!” She shouted. Miyako and Izumi both turned. A scream died on Izumi’s lips as Junpei was lifted into his air, staring directly at Dagomon’s angry red eyes. The purple aura flared as Junpei closed his eyes, and prepared himself to shake hands with Death. The grip around Junpei tightened. The wind was knocked from his lungs as Dagomon breathed in a breath of putrid air in Junpei’s face. He had time to wonder if breath mints were a thing in the Digital World yet when panic overtook him as the wind was suddenly rushing through his hair.

He was free-falling. Directly over the disgusting open maw of Dagomon.

The wind stole the scream from Junpei’s lips as he fell, flailing and scrambling. _I don’t wanna die!_

Blitzmon’s own panic fed into Junpei’s as he fell. He flailed wildly, twisting in midair and catching a glimpse of his friends, frozen with horror below.

 _Blitzmon, please._ He thought. _How can I stay alive to save my friends?!_

There was a moment of silence. Junpei imagined Blitzmon was collecting his thoughts, trying to calm himself down. And then-

_Believe._

Unlike Kouji, Junpei understood what he had to do.

 

Izumi watched in horror from below as her friend tumbled through the air.

 _Fairymon, please,_ She thought desperately. _How do I save him? How do I save Junpei?!_

The answer was immediate.

_Believe._

Izumi felt desperate tears clawing at her eyes. She had no idea what that meant, or how simple ‘belief’ could help her save Junpei. Her hands curled into fists, nails biting in her skin as she silently prayed for some kind of miracle. Sora and Miyako turned to their Digivices, ready to evolve when-

Junpei started glowing.

All movement paused, eyes turning up to see the shining boy, free-falling through the air. Dagomon let out a roar, stepping backwards. Then, the light faded. In Junpei’s place was a small, hovering insect with much resemblance to Tentomon, only blue. Sora let out a quiet gasp.

“What the…?”

“Tentomon?” Miyako breathed.

“No…” Relief gripped Izumi’s heart. “Kokabuterimon.”  

“Guys!”

Taichi ran to them, Agumon and the rest of the Chosen and Warriors in tow. Kokabuterimon, or Junpei, rather buzzed over to them, looking confused while Dagomon rubbed at his eyes, still temporarily blinded.

“What happened?!” Taichi demanded. “And who’s that?” He pointed at Junpei, hovering in midair and looking confused.

“Junpei!” Takuya drew the conclusion surprisingly quickly. “That’s your child form?! And I thought _Kouji_ looked ridiculous!”

Kouji kicked him.

“Right, sorry, not the time.” Takuya rubbed his leg, shooting Kouji a glare. Junpei scoffed, looking insulted.

“What is going on?” Yamato ignored the trio. “And what is that?!” He pointed at Dagomon, who was slowly regaining his vision.

“Dagomon,” Izumi spoke quickly. “Perfect level. We don’t have much time before he sees again, but we need to go.”

“Without even fighting him?” Takeru demanded.

“Blitzmon told me to run,” Junpei said. “This...thing isn’t something we can take on with our current strength.”

“Screw that!” Daisuke snorted, stepping forwards. “We took care of DarkTyrannomon on Monday no problem! We got this guy!”

“Daisuke wait-” Kouichi tried to stop him but he and V-Mon were already running towards Dagomon, chanting insults. Yamato cursed, dashing in after them.

“Yamato!” Taichi shouted, sprinting after him.

“Guess we have to fight now,” Takuya looked a bit green. Izumi had time to wonder what was wrong, when Dragomon let out an angry roar and tried to stomp on Daisuke. Her attention whipped towards them as Daisuke dove away, the ground rumbling horribly again. She cursed, her mind jumping to Fairymon’s words again.

_Believe._

_Believe?_ Izumi repeated bitterly. _What does that mean?_

 _Something different for each one of you._ Fairymon said vaguely. _For Kouji it was in his ability to protect. Junpei was to believe in his ability to save. You must find out what it means for you._

Izumi cursed under her breath as the Chosen Children rushed forwards, partners and Digivices at the ready. She felt so _useless._ It was agonizing.

Junpei leapt into battle, followed closely by Kouji and the Chosen partner’s evolved forms. Dagomon let out an angry roar, batting at the group with one enormous tentacle-covered claw. Greymon met the charge head on, XV-mon and Aquilamon circled above with Angemon and Angewomon. The battle was out of their favor though. Kouji and Junpei were only in their child forms and were no match for a Digimon at it’s perfect level. The other Digimon, even with their strength combined seemed to be struggling to even land a hit.

The purple aura surrounding Dagomon grew stronger. Izumi’s gaze fixed upon it and Daisuke gritted his teeth next to her.

“Ken!” He shouted. “It’s another one - like before!” Ken only nodded. His hand was pressed to the back of his neck, expression hard.

 _Believe,_ Izumi thought desperately. _Believe in what? This is ridiculous, I can’t even save my own friends because I can’t spirit evolve!_

 _Believe._ Echoed Fairymon.

Izumi resisted the urge to swear and instead screamed as Greymon and Garurumon crashed to the ground in front of her. Dagomon roared, sending Stingmon into XV-Mon and nearly crushing Togemon under his foot. Mimi screamed in alarm.

Jou cursed. “Not good! Ikkakumon see if you can-” His instructions were cut short as Ikkakumon let out a hoarse cry of pain, crashing into the ground and reverting back to Gomamon. Jou ran to shield his partner as Togemon and Ankylomon reverted to their original forms, unable to keep their Adult level.

Iori protected his partner with his body as he ran to rejoin the others. “He’s too powerful! We have to get out of here!”

“No way!” Daisuke refused. “We leave, he destroys the town!”

“What other option do we _have?!”_ Mimi demanded, huddling behind a boulder with Palmon held tightly in her arms.

“I…” Daisuke fell silent. The fire in his eyes simmered.

“And we’re short manpower,” Tomoki said. “We Legendary Warriors can’t evolve without knowing how Junpei and Kouji did and all our partners are telling us is to-”

“Believe,” Kouichi agreed, cutting the younger boy off. “I know.” Takuya was oddly silent through the exchange, gaze fixed on the battle that was rapidly shifting out of their favor. Dagomon let out another angry roar, swatting at Angemon and Angewomon, who were somehow managing to keep his attention while Kouji and Junpei attacked from all angles. Greymon and Garurumon were still lying, immobile, on the ground.

Then, Dagomon made a lucky strike. He hit Angemon and Aquilamon out of the air, sending them crashing into the ruined apartment building and rounded on Angewomon, frozen with shock.

“Angewomon!” Screamed Hikari. Her partner’s scream jolted her to move, but she was too slow as Dagomon’s tentacle-covered claw came down.

Tailmon dropped the sky and Hikari narrowly caught her, hugging her partner close to her chest.

“Aquilamon!” Miyako ran towards her fallen partner. Dagomon’s eyes fixed on the girl instantly, alerted by her shout. He let out another roar and Kouji, who was struggling to get to his feet, tried to call out a warning.

“Miyako, watch out-!”

Kouichi, who was by his brother’s side, also saw what Miyako hadn’t. “Get out of there!”

Miyako ignored them, picking up speed as she neared the apartment building. Dagomon’s body came down, ready to squish Miyako. Izumi’s thoughts clouded.

“ _No!”_ She heard herself screaming in unison with the others.

Izumi felt like the world froze around her. Everything seemed to move in slow motion as Fairymon’s words echoed in her head.

“ _Believe.”_

Izumi suddenly understood. It wasn’t like Kouji or Junpei, how they had to believe in their ability protect and save to evolve. But it was her own will in herself, her belief in her own abilities that would help her evolve.

An ear-splitting ringing noise surrounded Izumi. She felt a blinding flash of pain and then-

_Darkness._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CLIFFHANGER SUFFER
> 
> How does Dagomon know Blitzmon? What is Takuya hiding? (Although its kind of obvious so I'm not sure why I asked that) And most importantly, what did Izumi evolve into?
> 
> Find out next chapter! 
> 
> Jesus Christ this took too long for me to write. I told myself 'one chapter every week you can do it' and then I looked at the calendar and it was November. 
> 
> Whoops
> 
> In all seriousness though, thanks for reading! I love hearing the feedback from you guys and your theories and hopes for what's going to happen. It's actually given me a lot of inspiration for the direction I want this story to go, so thank you so much for reading <3
> 
> Hope you enjoyed!


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The battle continues to rage with the apperance of Izumi's new form. But things turn in a deadly twist of fate as a force takes not only Dagomon but three of the Chosen's own with him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's been a title change! I felt like this title would work better, especially after writing this chapter. You'll see what I mean by the end ;)
> 
> This isn't beta-read so all mistakes are on me. 
> 
> Enjoy!

At Izumi’s scream, Kouichi felt his heart wrench painfully.

He whipped his head around to find out what was wrong, only to nearly be blinded. He put his hands over his eyes to shield them and when it was gone, Izumi was nowhere to be found. In her place was a small Digimon, a few inches shorter than Fairymon herself. Translucent golden wings sprouted from her back, and she wore a green top and shorts to match. In her hands was a red spear, it’s edges deadly sharp

“Tinkermon,” Kouji breathed from beside him.

There wasn’t a moment’s hesitation before Tinkermon had shot off, parrying Dagomon’s hefty claw with her weapon.

“Run!” She ordered Miyako, who gathered Hawkmon into her arms and stumbled towards the rest of the group. Fear still swam in her eyes.

“We have to run,” Said Junpei again, backing up. Kouji, Izumi, and the rest of the still standing Digimon were doing their best to hold Dagomon back, but it was a lost fight. At this point, they’d cause more damage then they’d end up fixing.

Takuya swallowed and Kouichi’s gaze jumped to him. Normally, he would have been furious at the prospect of fleeing a battle. He was sure that the word ‘run’ wasn’t even in Takuya’s vocabulary. But he surprised Kouichi by nodding in silent agreement.

“Yeah,” he said, sounding very small. “If Blitzmon said to run then-”

Dagomon let out a roar. The purple aura that surrounded him intensified. It was nearly impossible to miss, showering Kouichi in waves upon waves of dark energy that made his headache.

“That aura is making him stronger,” said Ken, watching as Stingmon darted around Dagomon’s enormous tentacles. “We have to find the source. If we find the source, we take him out.” Kouichi’s gaze scoured over Dagomon, looking for anything that could have come close to looking like where the darkness was coming from, but he found nothing.

He swore under his breath.

Kouji screamed in pain suddenly, as Dagomon’s enormous tentacles whacked hard into his stomach. He sank into the rubble of the apartment building.

“Kouji!” Kouichi shouted, sprinting across the field towards his fallen brother. Takuya’s eyes widened in surprise.

“Kouichi, wait! It’s too-”

He was cut off as one of Dacomon’s tentacles slammed into the ground inches from Kouichi. He skidded to a stop, looking up. Dagomon glared down at him, beady red eyes full of a murderous rage. He took one look at Kouichi, and a deep guttural growl left his throat.

“Loweemon…”

Kouichi froze, fear freezing him to the spot. How did Dagomon know the spirit that rested within his soul? He swallowed, this throat suddenly very dry, and Dagomon heaved his massive body upwards. He rose it’s tentacle covered arm for a blow, ready to squash Kouichi flat.

“Kouichi!” He heard Izumi scream his name, but fear kept him rooted to the spot. “Speed Nightmare!” Her attack did little to stop the enormous trunk-like arm that swung down towards Kouichi. Kouichi squeezed his eyes shut, preparing himself for the agonizing pain he was sure would follow when he was suddenly knocked sideways, his cheek scuffing the hard concrete.

He let out a quiet cry of pain, stars bursting to life in front of his eyes. He looked up to see who had saved him and his eyes widened in surprise.

“Takeru…?” Kouichi breathed. Takeru stared back at him, looking surprised at himself for what he had just done. Then, without a word, he rolled off of Kouichi, turning his attention back to the fight. A moment later, his eyes widened.

“What on Earth…?” He breathed, narrowing his eyes down at Dagomon’s massive chest. Kouichi followed his gaze, but found nothing but a pulsing purple aura that only grew stronger.

“What is it?” He asked. Takeru ignored him, turning around to face his brother.

“Yamato!” He shouted, and the Chosen of Friendship looked at his little brother, eyebrow quirked. “Look at his chest!” Yamato did as Takeru asked and his eyes widened a split second later.

“Daisuke!” He said. “Is that the source of the Dark Aura you were talking about?”

The boy in question glanced up at Dagomon’s enormous chest as he swung angrily at Izumi and Junpei, who both yelped, leaping out of the way. XV-Mon let out a roar, and an attack collided with Dagomon’s side, making him lurch sideways.

“That’s another spot!” Daisuke said. “If we hit it, we win!”

“What are you talking about?!” Takuya demanded. Kouichi nodded in silent agreement. No matter how hard he looked, he couldn’t find the spot Daisuke, Yamato, and Takeru were talking about.

“We’ll explain later!” Ken said. “Takeru, do you think you can get Angemon to hit that spot?!”

“On it!” Takeru said, turning up to face his partner, hovering in the sky. “Angemon! The spot on his chest, do you see it?” It took Angemon a moment to find what his human partner was talking about, but after a brief pause, he nodded. “Hit there!” Kouichi’s head swam. So if the the others could see it, why couldn’t he and Takuya? Were the other Warriors having this issue too?

 _Focus,_ he chided himself. _Not the time._

Angemon dove. Staff in hand, he struck Dagomon directly in the chest. He roared, stumbling backwards. The violet aura surrounding him flickered. Kouichi winced slightly, feeling the waves of darkness roll over him. This darkness had been tainted - turned evil. Something much more primal was at play here.

Kouji dragged himself out of the rubble. Kouichi’s heart swelled with relief. He was okay, if a bit bruised and battered. Things were looking up, even if Kouichi didn’t understand what was going on all that well.

“Once more!” Takeru ordered.

Angemon struck again. This time Dagomon stumbled backwards. Daisuke pumped his fist with a loud cheer.

“We’ve got him on the ropes now!” He shouted. “Let’s-” The rest of his sentence was drowned out by a horrible screeching sound. It reminded Kouichi of nails being dragged against a chalkboard. He flinched, looking for the source as the ground began to tremble beneath them.

Izumi dove down, grabbing Kouji around the middle and hoisting him into the air. Junpei was quick to follow as the rest of the Chosen stuck on the ground scrambled backwards. Jou broke into a full sprint down the sidewalk as the ground began to crumble away around them. The rest of the group was quick to follow. XV-Mon and Stingmon scooped Daisuke and Ken up, rising into the air.

“Holy-!” The rest of Takuya’s swear was lost as Miyako screamed at the same time. Kouichi risked a glance behind him to see what was causing the problem.

His eyes widened.

Behind them was an enormous whirlpool of data. It was swallowing Dagomon whole, his roars echoing down the street. It began to shred him, data particles spiraling into the air.

Then, a voice.

_“You have failed me for the last time, Dagomon.”_

The voice was loud, commanding, but worst of all, _familiar._ Kouichi’s heart skipped a beat. A few feet away, Takeru stumbled, tripping over the loose concrete. He fell, scraping his cheek and hitting his head. The whirlpool of data drew near and Kouichi felt panic squeeze his heart.

Takeru was going to be sucked into that whirlpool if he didn’t do something. If _someone_ didn’t do anything. Kouichi remembered Takeru tackling him out of the way of Dagomon’s fist. He’d saved Kouichi’s life. Wasn’t he supposed to do the same now? He owed Takeru, didn’t he?

Without pausing to think more, Kouichi pivoted on his heel.

“Kouichi, no!” Takuya did the same, reaching out for Kouichi’s hand. He fumbled for it, fingers sliding through Kouichi’s; missing their mark by inches. Kouichi turned briefly to read the fear in Takuya’s brown eyes. Kouichi smiled and then ran for Takeru.

Yamato saw him go. Blue eyes wide in surprise as a child of Darkness moved to save one of his own. Hikari was next, following Yamato’s gaze.

“Kouichi!” Came Kouji’s voice. Kouichi ignored it, grabbing Takeru’s wrist and hauling him to his feet. With surprising strength, he shoved Takeru forwards, into his older brother’s awaiting arms. For a moment, Kouichi breathed out. Takeru was okay, everything was fine. He’d saved him.

“An eye for an eye, right?” He said quietly, aiming the words at Takeru, who understood immediately. His eyes widened.

And then Kouichi was falling backwards. He felt his stomach drop, as he fell, suspended over the whirlpool. The ground beneath him vanished into the digital void.

“No!” Kouji wrestled himself from Izumi’s arms. He plummeted after his brother, arm outstretched as if to catch his brother.

But Kouichi was gone a moment later. Swallowed whole.

Izumi let out an alarmed cry, dropping after Kouji to catch him. Takuya had also turned around, racing back towards the hole. He paused at the edge, concrete crumbling into data around him.

“Takuya, get back!” Taichi ordered. Takuya glanced behind him at the other chosen.

“I’m going after him,” he decided.

“We don’t know where he is,” Taichi protested. “He could be-”

“I’m going after him!” Takuya repeated, louder and with more conviction in his words. And without another word, or a second thought, Takuya launched himself after Kouichi. A moment later, he was gone. Izumi let out a scream of his name before he dove under.

Then it was Takeru, wrestling himself from Yamato’s arms. His older brother shouted, but Takeru wasn’t thinking straight. His thoughts were fixed firmly on Kouichi. He’d saved him, possibly at the cost of his own life.

 _An eye for an eye doesn’t mean anything if you’re dead!_ He found himself thinking, before his feet left the ground. Takeru’s last coherent sensation was a pulling and tugging as the data ripped at him, tearing him apart.

Then everything was dark.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SORRY NOT SORRY
> 
> It's short, but jam-packed with bad things amirite! 
> 
> Are they dead??? The world may never know because my update schedule is about as consistent as a fish. 
> 
> I actually had no plans for this to happen, but honestly I should have seen it coming when it comes to me. I had to have some sort of drama to keep people entertained. But either way, Dagomon knew Loweemon too! Will they get answers on the other side of the void or are they dead? 
> 
> I'll never tell~ 
> 
> Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Leave comments/kudos if you did, I love reading your comments and replying to each and every one of them! I'm sorry it took so long for this to get out...whoops.
> 
> You can find my Tumblr [here](https://chocolatechip-master.tumblr.com/)


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Takuya doesn't know where he is, or what he's doing for that matter. All he knows is that he's floating and then all very suddenly, he's not where he thought he was at all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heads up, a Takuya-centric chapter coming up here! No Takeru and Kouichi yet, but we'll get to that next chapter. Probably. This is just to advance, or rather start, a certain plot point I'm going to expand on later. 
> 
> Enjoy this chapter where I probably overuse the fuck out of Italics!

 

Takuya's first coherent sensation was floating.

He was drifting through endless space, his hair and clothes being tugged every which way. A familiar weight missing from the top of his head was an instant giveaway that his hat was missing. A flare of panic rose up in his gut and he tried to open his eyes or move his hands to scrabble for it desperately. He found with an increasing wave of apprehension that he  _couldn't._

He  _couldn't move._

He tried, he really did, but each movement he tried to make felt dull. Muffled by an invisible weight sitting down on his chest.

He continued floating through the endless air. Drifting aimlessly. Where was he? Did it even matter? The only thing Takuya remembered was staring down into that swirling pool of data that ripped Dagomon and Kouichi before him to shreds. Takuya had summoned all of his courage (which surprised him at the time because  _wow_ there was a lot of it) and jumped after him.

The data bit at him, pulling him every direction imaginable until he felt a shattering sensation that started at his toes and spread. Like every part of him was slowly breaking into dust, scattering. He couldn't feel his toes, couldn't wiggle them when he tried, and the feeling just kept moving. It reached his head and then everything had gone black.

Now he was floating who knows where in whatever world that portal had thrown him through. Maybe he really had died. Maybe Kouichi had too and Takuya had jumped for no reason. Or maybe Kouichi was just fine and Takuya's loyalty had finally gotten the better of him.

The final thought scared him. Because as far as Takuya was concerned, he was  _alone._ He didn't hear any muffled voices that made his head pinch and ache, or even a gentle wind brushing through his hair. He reached out, searching inside his soul for Agnimon, who had been a constant vigil ever since his return. Even Agnimon seemed to have abandoned him, too, because the fire that burned in his gut near constantly seemed to have fizzled out and died. In fact, there were no traces of Agnimon anywhere within Takuya's soul.

Takuya's heart skipped a beat. He hated being alone more than anything. And now he was here, scared and alone and robbed of his sight. Or maybe it was more than his sight. Perhaps the fall had paralyzed everything and he'd be stuck in this endless expanse until doctors eventually decided to pull the plug on their patient and let him die. Takuya hated that thought.

 _Breathe,_ he reminded himself and suddenly Takuya realized that he actually  _couldn't._ He tried to suck in a deep breath to steel his nerves, only to find he couldn't inhale. He was holding his breath, it seemed, and he had no idea how long ago he had taken a breath. The thought made Takuya feel increasingly claustrophobic, and he felt the beginnings of a panic attack starting to rear its head.

He couldn't breathe,  _he couldn't breathe!_

He tried to inhale again. He would have taken anything - a sucking sensation as his nostrils stuck together uncomfortably. Choking because he accidentally breathed in too fast. Just  _anything._

But there was nothing.

It took Takuya a moment to realize it as he fought the hopeless battle to take in a deep breath, but he was falling. Sinking through the expanse, steadily gaining speed. As soon as he realized what was happening, he was positive he had left his stomach somewhere up where he had been floating.

There was the intense falling sensation. Like the kind you get in a dream as you fall and then jerk violently into consciousness. Except Takuya wasn't going to wake up. He fell into a body, one that he recognized, but knew was not his own. He didn't know whose it was, but he was about to semi-possess them anyways. It didn't matter at the moment. He fell with an almighty thump, enough to knock this body off balance and into the dirt with crunch.

For a moment, Takuya sat there, his eyes squeezed shut. He shivered for a moment, waiting for something,  _anything_  to happen, when it occurred to Takuya that he could  _hear_ something.

His head twitched upwards, not yet risking opening his eyes. For all he knew, a grotesque sight awaited him. But...but those were... _birds_ chirping, right? Maybe this wasn't so bad after all?

Takuya risked opening his eyes. To his surprise, he sat in a pleasant park - one that he recognized. This was the park in Odaiba. The one that he went to with Izumi, Kouji, and the others frequently. The same one the Chosen and the Warriors had met in for the first time.

Takuya sucked in a huge breath, feeling the clean air enter him, cleanse him. Maybe things were okay. He  _was_ okay. Maybe he'd woken up while the others had gone to get snacks or something. They'd be here soon. He contented himself with that thought. At least, until he exhaled.

Takuya let out the breath he had been holding only to find that air didn't escape him. No. It was fire.

Takuya immediately clapped his hands to his mouth to stop them, only to feel sharp claws against his cheeks and hands too small to be his own. Takuya's heart pounded in his ears. Scared and unsteady. He risked looking down.

Orange skin. Thick red pants. Clawed feet.

Oh  _God,_ no. No, no, no. This could  _not_ be happening. He - Takuya - was Flamon again. When had he transformed? Had the data whirlpool stripped him of his human form, leaving him as a Digimon, this time for good?

Takuya's breaths began coming in ragged and scared. He rocked himself back and forth (an old comfort he used to do to himself after a nightmare) in an attempt to calm himself. It didn't help, because every time he looked down, he saw the white tattoo that spread along the length of his chest and vanished into the belt loops of his pants.

This wasn't how it was supposed to happen. Takuya wasn't going to have to transform, he would do so only until they figured out how to change  _back._  He wasn't supposed to turn into Digimon until he knew that he'd have a way out.

No, no, no,  _no._

Claws wormed their way into thick, untamable, fire-red hair. Takuya gripped his scalp, nails scratching at his skull. He tugged, as if he could rip the Flamon image off of his own body. But he couldn't, he  _couldn't._

_What was going on?!_

The others.

The first reasonably coherent thought was even more chilling. Takuya stopped his merciless assault on his own head, snapping his head up. As if on cue, as if  _waiting,_ he could hear approaching voices. He picked up Ken and Kouichi's quiet voices, nearly overshadowed by Taichi and Daisuke's loud laughter. He could hear his friends too, Kouji and Tomoki, Junpei and oh,  _god,_ no, Izumi.

Takuya scrambled to his feet. He couldn't let them see him like this. Weak and afraid of his own skin. He had to turn back first. Then he could face them again. When the smile he wore was his own and his skin wasn't  _orange_ of all colors.

Takuya leapt into the trees, sending bark fluttering to the ground. He left scratch marks in his wake, thick and obvious. He didn't care as he pulled himself to the highest branch and huddled there. The voices were even closer now. He couldn't possibly hope to escape unseen.

"Where's Takuya?" He heard Izumi ask suddenly, as if she were right next to him. He still couldn't see her, though. Takuya flinched.

"That's weird," Daisuke said. "He was just here a second ago, right? Sleeping and everything."

"Lazy-" Kouji's swear was lost to a chorus of people shouting his name. Kouji shrugged, palms up and Takuya realized with increasing panic that his best friend was  _human._ "What?" Taichi shook his head and Koushiro scanned the treeline. He was the one to find the marks bitten into the tree first, predictably, and moved to run his fingers over them.

"Strange," he murmured.

Takuya held his breath, scared that Koushiro would look up and catch a glimpse of those obnoxiously bright red pants he was wearing. Flamon's form was not good for camouflage, after all.

Lost in thought, Takuya failed to realize that the branch he was curled on was cracking. Takuya looked down, his eyes widening because he could have  _sworn_ that the branch was larger, thicker, than the small thin twig-like limb he was currently sitting on. The branch snapped under his weight and Takuya just  _fell._

He didn't fight it either. In the split second between the branch breaking and him falling, he decided that he couldn't fight it. If Kouji was human now, they must have figured out a way to return them to human forms. Maybe they could help Takuya now.

And if his friends saw their leader at his weakest, so be it.

Takuya expected to crash to the ground. He expected his back to hit rocks and dirt and for Kouji to start laughing at him for being so 'ridiculous'.

He didn't expect to fall right through it. The world began to fade, washed away by a black ink. Takuya sank like he had just leapt into a pool of water. Except it wasn't water, it was a thick liquid that started stripping Flamon's skin away. He saw his friends look down at him, their faces looming and stretching, growing taller and taller over the sun. Their mouths stretched into grins that stretched inhumanely large.

Then, they all spoke as one, a chorus of horrible voices that echoed in his head and made his very bones rattle with a chill so intense he could barely feel anything. 

"Fall, Warrior of Flame."

Takuya let out a scream lost to a torrent of bubbles as he did, the world washing away and then all at once it came back. He was panting, holding his side. A blinding flare of pain sparked up his side as he gripped his armor-

Wait,  _armor?!_

Startled, Takuya looked down. Red armor, flanked by a white underneath, was shattered, a deep crimson seeping from between his fingers. Takuya felt sick at the sight of it. Every breath was ragged and his windpipe felt strangely constricted, like he had been choked. His legs wobbled dangerously beneath him, his armor cracked and countless wounds trickling an unhealthy amount of blood littering every inch of exposed skin. The dirt around him was spotted with scarlet, dark and a stark contrast to everything else around him.

Swallowing back the sour taste at the back of his throat, Takuya looked up to meet his attacker. Instead, he saw twelve wings, eyes of malice, and words that made his heart skip a beat and his will crumble. 

"Fall, Warrior of Flame."

The voice. So childish yet so  _intense._ So  _familiar._ Takuya knew that voice. He hated it more than anything in the world. That voice had taken so much from him - his courage, his belief in himself and his teammates. His friends, old and new.

That fucking  _voice_.

Takuya squared his jaw, straightening his back, all though it hurt to do so. It felt like his insides had been scrambled and now nowhere was where it should be. But Agnimon's fire had returned to the pit of Takuya's stomach because now he  _was_ Agnimon. He was not afraid anymore.

Lucemon was in front of him, his boyish face innocent,  _kind_ almost. But Takuya knew of the evil that lurked underneath. So he squared his aching shoulders, hearing something crack horribly underneath the skin. He curled his free hand into a tight fist, spitting a word at Lucemon that sent blood trickling down his chin.

" _Never."_

Defiant, proud,  _courageous._ That was what a Warrior of Flame was. He saved, he protected, he  _led._ He would not bow down to Lucemon, not now, not  _ever._

Takuya didn't have time to feel proud of his response. Lucemon smirked, raising his hand. A ball surrounded it, encompassing his hand and steadily growing larger, and larger, until it was roughly the size of a skyscraper, towering above them.

"Then  _die."_

Lucemon brought his hand down. The wall came with it. Takuya closed his eyes, oddly calm. He embraced it, waiting and wishing. Knowing what was coming, knowing the pain that was about to consume him. Any second now, he would be wrapped in pain so intense, he would never feel anything like it again. He knew it wasn't over. It never was just  _over_ for a Warrior of Flame.

Takuya took a deep breath. Rain scented the air. A storm was on the horizon. Thunder, perhaps, would grace the sky tonight. Takuya embraced the thought that he would not see it with surprising acceptance. Because there was a way out. This battle was not over.

Then, a voice. Just like his, but also so,  _so_ different.

_"I will see you soon, Takuya."_

There was pain after that. A blinding agony that ripped him apart limb from limb. Takuya could not stop himself from screaming, his cry drowning out Lucemon's high laugh. He screamed, the darkness turning every fiber, every bone in his body to ash. His body crumbled, thoughts fading into nothing and then-

Takuya's eyes snapped open. He sucked in a harsh breath, sending dirt and rocks down his windpipe. He choked, coughing them from his lungs as he lay there on his side. His hands were normal, he  _felt_ normal. He was not Agnimon, he was not Flamon.

He was himself.

So, then was it all dream?

Takuya twitched his finger. His arms were scraped and bleeding, stinging vaguely as blood trickled down his arms. The Flamon part was distorted and weird enough to be something from his imagination but the last part...the battle between himself and Lucemon...It was too vivid, too real, to be a dream.

And, as Takuya tried to drag himself into a sitting position, he began to realize something. What Takuya had witnessed between Agnimon and Lucemon was not something he had imagined. It was not a nightmare so vivid he could feel the pain and every ragged breath he took.

It was  _history._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And it's short! I'm sorry! But there wasn't much that really happened, but this chapter is important. It's going to touch on a thing that will keep popping up until we find a way to help our poor boy. 
> 
> I hinted at this a little bit in previous chapters. Not the nightmares, but Takuya's real fear of turning into Flamon. The reason WHY Takuya is suddenly getting these nightmares will be expanded upon later, or maybe even next chapter. It's not going to be left as a plot hole forever, I promise. 
> 
> I am absolutely overwhelmed by the positive reviews this story has gotten! I'm really glad that people have been liking this enough to tell me about their theories and possible ideas for me to incorporate into the story, so thank you, really! 
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Leave a comment/kudos if you did. Preferably a comment, I love reading and responding to each and every one <3
> 
> You can find my Tumblr [here](https://chocolatechip-master.tumblr.com/) so if there's a certain one-shot/topic that you want me to write, just throw an ask into my inbox! :D


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yamato and Kouji can't believe their eyes. Hikari doesn't understand. Takeru wakes up in an unfamiliar world, alone and missing his friends. And Takuya? Takuya searches for answers but get's a face-full of dirt instead.

The whirlpool closed as soon as Takeru's body vanished into the void.

Kouji heard Yamato scream, throw himself at the ground where it had been and bang the crumbling sidewalk with his fists. Taichi could only place his hand bracingly on his best friend's back, his eyes downcast.

And Kouji?

Kouji didn't know what he was supposed to feel. Anger? Devastated? He wasn't sure. He just knew he had to feel  _something._ His best friend and his older brother had just flung themselves into a whirlpool of data that had shredded Dagomon to pieces in an instant. His emotions should have been mirroring Yamato's: a distraught screaming mess.

But Kouji just felt  _empty._

His hands were shaking and he curled them into fists to hide it. His claws dug into his skin, and if anything, the quaking seemed to get  _worse,_ not  _better._ Kouichi was gone. Kouji had lost him for a third time, maybe this time for good.

_Gone. Gone. Gone._

The word repeated like a chorus in his head. Reminding him of his failure. He was so close to grabbing Kouichi's hand. He felt his brother's fingers graze his own, a look of absolute calm over his brother's face. He had looked so  _ready_ to accept his fate. Kouji had only seen that face once. And that was right after Lucemon killed him.

And Takuya...

Takuya had that same expression he got whenever he had a stupid plan that always miraculously worked out. He'd looked at Kouji briefly and then had jumped. The data had swallowed him a moment later.

Izumi floated next to him, touching the ground with a light click of her heels. She glanced over at Kouji and placed her hand bracingly on his arm.

"They'll be okay," she whispered. Kouji wrenched his arm away.

"What just...happened?" Junpei breathed.

"I don't know," Miyako was shaking. She cradled Hawkmon close to her chest. Her partner was still unconscious, his feathers sticking up in all different directions. " _I don't know."_

The answer, predictably, did not seem to suit Koushiro. "That can't be right. That whirlpool had to come from somewhere-"

"Who cares where it came from?!" Yamato screamed suddenly. Attention snapped to him and Taichi, the latter of the two drawing his hand away from his best friend's back. Yamato's whole body was trembling. "It took...it took..." He could not finish his sentence and let out a choked sob and rested his forehead against the concrete.

"He saved him."

Attention turned to Hikari. She was staring, wide-eyed, at where the whirlpool had been. Tailmon was clutched in her arms and her partner gazed up at her curiously.

"Hikari?" Sora said gently. She and Mimi moved to comfort her, but Hikari started walking towards Yamato and Taichi, as if in a trance.

"He saved him," she repeated. "Why would he...?"

Kouji realized a moment later she was talking about Kouichi. Izumi stiffened beside him. A wave of cold seemed to wash over Kouji, his hands curling into fists. His claws bit into his skin as he watched Hikari approach her brother and his best friend. She knelt, placing her palm squarely on the ruined concrete.

"Why?" She repeated, her voice choked. "Why would he?"

"That's just how he is," Tomoki whispered. "Kouichi is selfless...he wouldn't let Takeru die. Especially not after he saved him."

"But he..." Hikari was grasping at her words now. Thousands of them crammed into her throat, and she couldn't find how to say any of them. She just couldn't  _understand._

Kouichi was darkness. He was the representation of everything evil, everything  _wrong_ with the Digital World. The fact that he had saved Takeru, perhaps at the expense of his own life, was baffling to her. And the fact that Takeru had jumped so willingly after darkness was even more confusing. Hikari just couldn't wrap her head around it.

She just didn't  _understand._

"You just don't get it, do you?" Kouji asked. Hikari noted the slight tremor in his voice. He was more affected than he was letting on. "Kouichi isn't evil. Never was...never will be. Not even while he was under Cherubimon's control. He will never,  _ever_ be our enemy."

"Under Cherubimon's control?" Jou's arms were curled tightly around Gomamon to protect his weakened partner. "What do you mean?"

"A story for another time," Izumi said quietly. Hikari tucked Tailmon closer to her chest, looking down at the rubble underneath her feet.

"All right," Taichi straightened up. "This won't do. We can't just sit here forever feeling sorry for ourselves. Three of our own have gone missing and it's our duty to find them and bring them back." Hikari couldn't help but notice how her older brother said 'three of her own.' Typical Taichi - he had already accepted the Warriors into their close-knit circle of Chosen with no questions asked. Hikari wished he could be that empathetic, but she just couldn't.

She didn't understand.

"Koushiro," Taichi turned to face their resident computer whizz. "I need you to track down that whirlpool. Find out where it came from. If anyone can do it..." he paused, looking at Koushiro with pride and complete confidence. "You can."

"I'll need something to work with," Koushiro said anxiously. "The thing came from thin air. But if it's digital, it must have come from the Digital World. Anything from there leaves some kind of trace. I'll find it."

"Good," Taichi nodded. "Everyone else, split up and start searching. There's a possibility the others will show up somewhere around the city."

The team nodded. Three of their own were missing, and they weren't going to rest until they found them. No matter what.

 

Takeru's mouth tasted like dirt.

He opened his eyes slowly, nearly blinded by the bright sun. He was lying on a bed of rocks, and it was a marvel that none of his bones were broken. At least, none of them  _felt_ broken. He shifted each limb to make sure and was relieved to find everything was intact.

He shifted, pushing himself to his knees. Something in his shoulder popped at the motion and he grunted in agony, moving to grip it. He caught a glimpse of his arms as he did, and his stomach twisted into knots. His arms were mangled, cut and bruised so much that he could barely see any of the skin beneath. He hoped his face wasn't in the same state. If he met anyone he knew, he wouldn't be able to be recognized.

_Anyone he knew..._

The remaining grogginess from the fall was gone instantly. Kouichi. Takuya. Both of them had jumped into the whirlpool before him. Were they okay? Were they ripped into bits by the whirlpool like Dagomon had been?

He swore under his breath (Yamato would have been very disappointed in him for his language) and looked around. To his left, trees reached up into the sky, some of them touching the clouds far above. To his right was a cliff face, the distant rolling of the waves indicating there was an ocean far below. Water stretched as far as the eye could see beyond that.

Takeru was eternally grateful he hadn't fallen into the ocean.

But the fact that he could even see the water was baffling. When he had jumped into the void, he was in the middle of a bustling city in Tokyo. Nowhere  _near_ an ocean. Now he was. There was only one logical explanation. Takeru was in the Digital World. And if he was here, that meant Kouichi and Takuya were too. They had to be.

Takeru had to find them.

He scrambled unsteadily to his feet. His head spun for a moment, the world blurring as all the blood rushed from his head. He groaned, threading his fingers through his hair and closing his eyes and waiting for the headrush to fade. His legs trembled beneath him, barely able to support him. He felt so  _so_ weak.

As soon as he could see clearly again, Takeru made for the forest. He only had to hope that neither Kouichi or Takuya fell into the ocean. He pushed aside leaves and brush, dead leaves crunching underneath his sneakers. His head pounded and his arms stung and bled. He probably wouldn't be able to hold anything up without it feeling like thousands of needles were digging into him.

Takeru pressed on, calling Kouichi and Takuya's names, searching desperately. The Digital World wouldn't be hospitable to them. All three of them. Takeru didn't know where Patamon was, and Kouichi and Takuya had yet to spirit evolve. Takeru didn't know if they even  _could._ And if Kouichi evolved, it would probably be into something horrible and dark.

Just because Kouichi had saved him and Takeru had jumped after him, did not mean Takeru trusted the Warrior of Darkness. There was still a fine line to be crossed when it came to Kouichi and Takeru. Darkness had taken away his partner once. He wasn't going to let it happen again.

Takeru was just going to find Kouichi and Takuya and get out of here. Takeru would have been lying if he said he didn't hope that he found Takuya before Kouichi. He didn't know if he could stand being alone with the Warrior of Darkness longer than he had to.

Takeru brushed aside another leaf that had whacked him in the face. He entered a clearing, sun pouring in through the leafy canopy above. Takeru turned his gaze upwards to look at it. There was a strange hole in the middle of the enormous leaves, almost like something had fallen through.

Takeru looked down, quickly searching the rest of the clearing with his eyes for any sign of life. Nothing else seemed disturbed. There was no movement or groan of pain. Takeru's heart sank. He was about to give up, thinking whoever it was had gotten up and hobbled away when he saw it. An unconscious figure lay a few feet away, raven hair in a disheveled mess around him.

"Kouichi!"

Takeru broke into an awkward run, his feet practically dragging themselves. His sneakers drew lines in the leaves behind him, leaving an obvious trail. His arms hung uselessly on either side of him, aching and hurting too much for him to do anything with.

He fell to his knees next to Kouichi's prone form and rolled him over. The simple effort sent prickles of agony up Takeru's spine, and he gritted his teeth to keep from crying out. Instead of focusing on the pain, he reached out and gently slapped either side of Kouichi's face.

Luckily, the Warrior of Darkness didn't seem any worse for wear. His pants were supporting a new hole in the knee, and his face had a nasty cut running from the corner of his eye to his collarbone. His arms were cut and bruised in the same way as Takeru's, but not nearly as severe. Landing in a bed of leaves and grass must have cushioned the fall in one way or another. Takeru thanked the little blessings.

"Kouichi," Takeru slapped his face again. "Kouichi! Kouichi - wake up!" Takeru leaned down, pressing his ear to Kouichi's chest and listened for the older boy's heartbeat. For one terrifying moment, Takeru couldn't hear it. Then, it came. Quiet and steady. Kouichi was alive. Takeru sighed in relief.

He shook Kouichi this time, urging the older boy to wake up. If Takeru returned home without his twin, Takeru was sure Kouji would turn him into a shish-kabob on his claws.

After a few heart-stopping moments, Kouichi coughed and brought himself into the waking world. Takeru felt a weight lift off of his shoulders. Suddenly everything about his situation seemed a whole lot lighter. He could only hope that when they found Takuya, he was at least conscious.

"T-Takeru?" Kouichi managed, his eyes fixing on the other boy weakly.

"Yeah, yeah, it's me," Takeru said breathlessly. He helped Kouichi sit up (ignoring the agony in his arms) and looked Kouichi over for any external wounds he could have missed. The only thing that seemed remotely horrible was the cut on his face, but even that seemed minuscule next to the mess of Takeru's arms.

Takeru looked up to meet Kouichi's questioning gaze but started when he realized the other boy's pupils were dilated to an alarming level. He likely had a concussion - and a severe one at that.

Takeru swore.

"Language," Kouichi reprimanded him in a murmur. His words slurred together, making him a bit difficult to understand. Takeru raised his eyebrow and the laugh Kouichi made sounded drunk at best.

"Your pupils are dilated," Takeru told him. "I think you have a concussion."

"That explains the headache," Kouichi reached to gingerly touch his temple. He winced at the contact, immediately pulling away. "My face hurts," he muttered.

"Well, you do have a nasty looking cut there," Takeru pointed.

"Oh."

Kouichi tried to stand up but wobbled and immediately sat back down. Takeru realized he'd have to help Kouichi walk, which meant further agitating his wounds. But if that meant they could find Takuya and get out of here, he'd do it.

He hoped he'd find Takuya soon. The conversations between Kouichi and himself were awkward enough as it was.

"Give me your hand," Takeru ordered, the words coming out colder than he expected. If Kouichi had noticed the hostility, he didn't comment on it. He only obeyed, holding out his arm for Takeru to grab. Takeru took it and gritted his teeth, trying to ignore the stabs of pain. Instead, he tugged, pulling Kouichi unsteadily to his feet.

His arms felt like they were on fire from the effort. The cuts burned and the bruises pulsed uncomfortably. Kouichi swayed on the spot from where Takeru had lifted him, his eyes darting around the clearing as Takeru ignored his wounds and slung Kouichi's arm over his shoulders.

"Ow," Kouichi murmured at the motion, wincing. His gaze traveled over to Takeru and fixed unsteadily on the boy's swollen arms. His eyes widened. "Takeru you're-"

"It's fine," Takeru said shortly. "Let's just find Takuya and get out of here."

"Takuya?" Kouichi said. "He's here too? Why are you here? Where are...agh..." He winced, pulling his free hand to his temple. Takeru glanced at the boy, realizing that whether he liked it or not, Kouichi would not be able to go far or understand much with his concussion. He had to find somewhere to rest, and fast.

He swore again. Kouichi mumbled something, chiding Takeru for his language most likely, as Takeru led him into the brush.

"I'm going to find somewhere safe to rest," Takeru said. "You're going to need it." Kouichi didn't protest, only nodded numbly and allowed the Child of Hope to practically drag him back into the woods.

They walked in silence, with Takeru doing most of the walking. Kouichi reached out occasionally to swat away leaves and branches away from their faces, but that was the extent of what he could do when he was seeing double half the time. Takeru had put all his concentration into not dropping Kouichi. His wounds sang with agony, and it felt like half-carrying Kouichi was ripping them open even further. Kouichi wasn't  _heavy,_ per say, but he was certainly too much for Takeru's weakened arms to handle.

But he had to. He'd find somewhere safe and then he'd get a break.

They spent the rest of the day wandering through the forest. Takeru kept his eyes peeled for any sort of cave or outcropping that could be used as a shelter for the night. He had no idea what kinds of Digimon were lurking in the woods and he wasn't sure if he wanted to find out.

Eventually, it was getting hard to see. Takeru set Kouichi down in a protected thicket that was hard to see from the outside. The trees that surrounded them at all angles reminded Takeru of Willow Trees. They had the same hanging leaves and the same thick trunks as the ones back home. They'd have to do for protection for the night.

They had no camping gear - which made Takeru nostalgic for the old days when he was a kid and they had first stumbled into the Digital World - so Takeru set off to find firewood. When he came back with an armful of wood, Kouichi had buried himself in leaves he had scrounged up from the forest floor and covered himself in them.

Takeru couldn't help but snort at the strange sight as he placed the firewood next to Kouichi. The tired warrior turned his gaze to meet Takeru's unsteadily.

"What's so funny?" He slurred. His eyes were still dilated. Takeru had no idea how long it took for a concussion to fade, and he hoped Kouichi would be better by morning.

"You," Takeru said honestly. "You look like a hobbit, all curled up in a bunch of dirt."

"We didn't have...have any...camp gear when we went to the Digital World," Kouichi whispered. "So we all just kinda...used what we...what we had." Talking was clearly a strenuous effort for Kouichi, so Takeru only hummed in agreement and didn't respond. For one cruel moment, he wanted to force Kouichi to continue talking. Keep him tired and disoriented so he wouldn't have the chance to attack with his weird darkness powers and hurt Takeru.

But somehow...he doubted Kouichi would do that. It seemed absurd, but Kouichi'd had so many opportunities throughout the day to hit Takeru while he wasn't paying attention. He could blame it on the concussion currently muddling Kouichi's thoughts, but a true Warrior of Darkness would not hesitate to strike the Child of Hope in the back. Maybe he was biding his time. Waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike and make off before anyone could find him. But somehow, Takeru doubted that too.

The fire flickered to life over the kindling as Takeru blew on it gently. The warmth it gave off made the goosebumps that had formed on Takeru's arms fade. Kouichi watched the fire silently, the flickering of the flames reflecting in his eyes.

"I hope Takuya's okay," he whispered. It was the first coherent thought he had said since they'd started walking. Takeru watched Kouichi for a moment, faith in his belief that Kouichi was evil wavering even more. How could someone so evil care so much for other people? It didn't make sense.

Takeru could only nod in agreement because he didn't know what to believe anymore.

 

Takuya couldn't see his hand in front of his face anymore. It was now so dark that he was relying purely on sound and touch in order to find out where he was and where he was going.

He stumbled over another root, cursing under his breath, fingers gripping the bark of a tree tightly. His wounds ached for medical attention, but it wasn't as though he'd find any in this world. He had figured out pretty quickly he had been transported into the Digital World. How else could you explain the random screeches that sound  _anything_ like an animal echoing through the air?

 _Another root up ahead,_ Agnimon warned him suddenly.  _Be careful you don't trip over that one and fall. There are evil presences nearby._

 _Shut it,_ he thought back. Agnimon recoiled, and Takuya felt guilt creep up his spine. He banished it. His partner was keeping stuff from him. That couldn't happen. They were supposed to trust each other. Secrets were not allowed.  _Besides, you still have to explain what that dream was._

_Dream?_

"Uh, yeah!" Takuya said out loud. It was probably a bad idea to alert every evil Digimon in the area to his presence, but he couldn't find it in himself to care at the moment. "That dream where you were fighting Lucemon and then probably died? I know that was real. I just don't know  _when_ it happened."

Agnimon didn't respond. Takuya felt the waves of fear and horror now radiating from his partner's spirit. Clearly, he had seen something he wasn't supposed to. Takuya couldn't help but scoff and he stepped forwards again. This time, however, a root did not trip him. It was a sudden grip on his ankle, causing his heart to stop for a split second.

The hand yanked hard. Takuya let out a cry of pain as he hit the ground with a  _thump._ He kicked out wildly, landing a kick to  _something_ but he couldn't see what. It was too dark to see, which made the situation all the more terrifying. He was getting dragged along the forest floor, sending leaves and dirt flying in his wake.

"Let go of me!" He shouted. "Let me-agh!" He screamed as his jaw hit a rock. His teeth snapped together loudly, copper filling his mouth. He spat it out as whatever was dragging him laughed cruelly.

Inside his heart, Agnimon had gone suspiciously silent. Takuya called out to him, asking what the  _hell_ was going on, but there was no answer. Which meant he was alone. Well, as alone as he could be with something dragging him by the ankle through the forest floor.

Takuya kicked again. This time whatever was dragging him groaned in pain. His ankle was thrown into the ground and thick claws wormed their way into his hair and pulled him to look at his attacker. As soon as Takuya saw what was looking at him, he kind of wished it had remained a mystery.

The Digimon was blood red with fangs bared angrily. It held a trident in its free hand and its body was marked with black tattoos that spiraled around its skin threateningly. Its tail was forked, nose hooked and small wings with the insides violet flanked either side of him. And worst of all, its breath  _smelled._

"Be still," it hissed. "The Mistress summons you, Warrior of Flame."

"I don't know what that means," Takuya shot back, hoping not brushing his teeth this morning was giving the Digimon a dosage of what it had just given him.

"You'll find out soon enough," the Digimon hissed. It turned to grab his leg again, but Takuya kicked up at the last second, landing a hit to the hooked nose. The Digimon roared in pain and Takuya rolled backward gracelessly, popping his neck as he did so. He winced, rubbing it as he crawled to his feet. "You insolent little-" The Digimon let out a loud roar, launching himself at Takuya. Takuya sidestepped, letting it crash trident-first into a nearby tree.

Agnimon may have been silent at the moment, but Takuya still felt the flickering flame burning deep in his heart. His partner was still there. And he didn't need to Spirit Evolve to kick this guy's ass.

Takuya raised his fists in a fighting stance like he'd seen Kouji often adopt back home. He hoped he could replicate his best friend's fighting style long enough to get away, or at least find Kouichi. Hopefully, the Warrior of Darkness was okay.

The Digimon pulled his trident free from the tree and Takuya narrowed his eyes, his nails biting into his skin. He could finally feel Agnimon pressing in against the back of his mind, urging him, calling upon the power of flames.

 _Believe,_ he seemed to be saying.  _Believe or you will lose your life in this battle. You cannot win this alone._

Takuya ignored him because there was no way he was giving in and transforming into Flamon. The thought had been terrifying in theory and even more so in his dreams. He narrowed his eyes at the Digimon who was leering at him with its disgusting maw open wide.

"You are a fool," the Digimon hissed.

"I am a fool who's gonna kick your ass," Takuya countered.

The Digimon sneered and lunged. Takuya ducked at the last moment, the claws raking his hair and nearly splitting his scalp open. While the Digimon's back was turned, Takuya pivoted on his heel like he always saw Kouji do and landed a kick to its unprotected back.

The meager attack appeared to have no effect, as the Digimon sneered and turned around. It reached out with its claws, batting Takuya away like he was nothing but an annoying fly. Takuya's back hit the tree, his head colliding with the rough bark. Almost instantly his eyesight flickered and he nearly fell into unconsciousness.

"You are a fool," the Digimon snarled. "And you are weak." He grabbed Takuya's ankle and continued to drag him through the forest. The fight Takuya put up was weaker this time. His foot hit the side of the Digimon's arm but it only scoffed and continued pulling him.

Takuya's hair tugged at the twigs and the leaves that were now nested within the brown tangles. He closed his eyes, a headache pulsing just beneath his eyelids.

 _Agnimon?_ He thought.

 _Yes?_ Despite their earlier argument, Takuya could still feel the concern and the pure  _love_ that Agnimon exuded. It made his lips twitch upwards.

Takuya paused, choosing his next words carefully. There were a thousand things he wanted to say to his partner in this instant. He didn't know where he was being taken or who this 'Mistress' was, but he had a feeling it wasn't good. This might be the last time he got to talk to Agnimon for a long, long time.

Finally, Takuya settled on two words that portrayed everything so simply, so cleanly. He didn't know if he could have put it better.

_I'm sorry._

And Takuya lost himself to the darkness.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oops, here comes the angst train! Time for Takuya to suffer, along with Kouichi and Takeru. Stuff isn't gonna be fun for the three of them.
> 
> So, there might be more consistent updates in this coming week, perhaps even once-per-day if I get bored enough. I'm currently doing an internship at a company, and they have me sitting around doing nothing half the time, pretending like I'm doing stuff. They've supplied me with a laptop there too, which means more writing to be done!
> 
> I'm making no promises about it though because I might be doing something different next week than what I did this week.
> 
> Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed! Please drop a kudos or a comment if you did. I love reading feedback of all kinds! 
> 
> You can find my Tumblr [here](https://chocolatechip-master.tumblr.com/) so if there's a certain one-shot/topic that you want me to write, just throw an ask into my inbox! :D


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Koushiro accepts what he finds hard to, Kouichi's concussion worsens, and the Mistress begins her plans. Meanwhile, Hikari unloads on Taichi, who is willing to do anything for her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This isn't beta-read, so all mistakes are on me

Koushiro’s fingers were beginning to hurt.

He had typed a lot in his lifetime. In fact, most of his childhood was spent practically glued to his laptop. Every day he programmed, hacked, and researched.

But he’d never typed so intensely before.

Koushiro was hurt. His pride, a little bit, as Tentomon (who was currently lounging on the ceiling fan) was taken out of the fight so quickly but mostly his heart hurt. Takeru was gone. The kid was like a little brother to Koushiro, he had known him so long. Now he was gone. And on top of that, they had lost two of the Warriors. A team Koushiro was eager to research and get to know.

So, yeah, Koushiro was hurt. But he wasn’t going to sit by and lick his wounds until someone else went missing. Koushiro was going to fight back, find his friends, and get them home safe and sound and no worse for wear.

All he had to do was find traces of the whirlpool.

Koushiro was completely convinced that the portal that had shredded Dagomon to bits and taken three of their own was Digital in origin. He was willing to bet anything it was created using the same technology their own computer portals to the Digital World were - if only a bit more unstable.

Koushiro stretched his fingers like a cat over his keyboard, skimming over the document he was working on. Every single lead, everything he knew about their Digital Portals on the school computers was written there. He didn’t know how it would help him find Takeru, Kouichi, and Takuya, but he had to at least try.

Koushiro turned his attention to his suddenly buzzing phone. He reached with his free hand to pick it up and answered the call.

“This is Koushiro.”

“Hey,” Taichi said. He sounded tired. In truth, they all were. Takeru, Kouichi, and Takuya had been missing for nearly three whole days. No one had any idea what could have happened to them in that time. They could be injured and slowly dying from their wounds. Or they could have been killed by an evil Digimon. Regardless, none of them had slept much. “Any changes?”

“No,” Koushiro hated saying it. “I think that portal was a deadlier version of the ones at school...but of course you already know that. I’ve told you that before.”

“I still think we should try going through the school portals,” Taichi said. “We might find them there-”

“And I’ll tell you again,” Koushiro said sharply. “That the portal they went through was unstable. For all we know, they were sent into an alternate version of the Digital World. They might not even be in the Digital World for all we know!”

There was a pause on Taichi’s end. Koushiro felt guilty for a moment, wondering if he had hurt the brunette. It was hard to do, but it was possible to put a damper on their ever-cheerful leader’s spirits.

“They are,” Taichi said finally. His tone was confident. “They have to be.”

“Yeah,” Koushiro said, trying to convince himself. He opened the program he had created so many years ago to help identify Digimon phenomena. The memory seemed so long ago now. Back when they were young and didn’t realize that lives were on the line. “Okay. I’ll see you later. Call if...if anything comes up.”

“Will do. Later, Koushiro.”

Taichi hung up the phone. He sighed, glancing at the screen for a moment before turning his attention back to his best friend who stood next to him. Yamato was practically jogging in place, eager to get back to searching. Gabumon stood quietly next to him, his smile tense. Patamon was nestled in the crook of Yamato’s arm, his eyes downcast.

“You done?” He asked impatiently. “Can we get back to it? Daisuke and Ken are already done with their section and Iori sent me a message to let me know him and Tomoki finished their section and-”

“I get it,” Taichi sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. Yamato had been like this for the past three days. Anxious and scared, desperate to find his little brother. Taichi understood Yamato’s feelings. He’d be the same if Hikari went missing, but this was starting to get ridiculous.

Yamato hadn’t slept. He was running on pure caffeine right now, having downed several cups of coffee that morning just to stay awake. That wouldn’t be good in the long run - especially if Takeru was in the Digital World like Taichi suspected. He had watched Takeru fall. The data whirlpool hadn’t shredded him into bits like it had to Dagomon. It had swallowed him more like. Tugged at him for a moment and then had taken Takeru whole within its depths.

Anything strange that occurred here could always be attributed to happenings in the Digital World. This was no different.

Taichi followed Yamato as he bounded down the sidewalk, peering down alleyways and shouting Takeru’s name as he went. Taichi joined in, raising his hands to his mouth and shouting the names of their three missing Chosen.

Taichi let his thoughts wander as they searched, Yamato and Gabumon bounding on ahead, Patamon bundled in Yamato’s arms. Koushiro had a point. Then again, he always did. But they had to return. Regardless of the portal’s stability, they had an obligation to return to the Digital World and protect it. It was their calling as Chosen Children and as friends and family to those that had gone missing.

Koushiro was afraid. Afraid of what would happen to them if they were to go through the same portal as Takuya, Kouichi, and Takeru. Taichi understood that. But sitting by and waiting for answers instead of getting them themselves would not accomplish anything. They had to do something. Make a change. Make a  _choice._

Taichi would go into the Digital World himself if he had to. He wasn’t afraid of what was to come. He was more afraid of what might happen if they were too late.

 

Mimi kicked open the door.

Koushiro yelped, knocking a bottle over onto its side as she entered, Palmon at her side. Trailing behind her were Sora and Jou, their respective partners standing next to them. Jou smiled uneasily at Koushiro as Mimi marched into the room.

“That’s it, Koushiro,” Mimi said. “I know Taichi believes in you and all, but we have people to save and things to do. Up you go!” She seized him by the upper arm and Koushiro flailed, trying desperately to clean his desk off.

“What are you talking about?” He demanded.

“Mimi, Jou, and I were talking,” Sora stepped into the room, radiating confidence. Her family was missing and she was tired of sitting around waiting for a miracle. It was time she  _made_ a miracle. “And we all agreed that searching the city won’t get Takeru and the others back. We have to go to the Digital World.”

Koushiro sighed, hanging his head. “I already explained this to Taichi-”

“I know you think the portal those three went through was unstable,” Mimi said sharply. “But who cares? Why are we being careful when their lives are at stake?”

“Because our lives are at stake too!” Koushiro said angrily, wrenching his arm from Mimi’s claw-like grip. He glared at her, straightening his hair.

“What do you mean?” Jou asked, looking a bit worried.

“That whirlpool made our connections to the Digital World unstable, including the ones at the school,” Koushiro explained. “Takeru, Kouichi, and Takuya going through just made it worse.”

“So? Who cares?!” Mimi threw her hands into the air. “We need to find them  _now!”_

Koushiro took in a deep steadying breath. “Look, Mimi, I want them back as much as you do - as much as all of you do! But we can’t be reckless about it. We have to formulate a plan. The Digital World needs us just as much as those three need us. We can’t die just trying to get to it.”

“Then why aren’t we looking for them in the one place that really matters?!” Sora demanded.

“Because it isn’t  _safe!”_ Koushiro exploded. “Because if we go in there right now, the portal has a chance of folding in on itself turning us all to little bits of data. I don’t know about the rest of you, but I do  _not_ want to go through that again! Look, sometimes we have to be careful and plan things out bit by bit. This is one of those times! We can’t just rush in head-on without a plan of attack and-” Koushiro cut himself off, running a hand through his hair. He stuffed his hands into his pockets, turning away from the group who were now staring at him, astonished.

“Koushiro-” Sora tried.

“No,” Koushiro shook his head. “We can’t, Sora.”

“But we have to,” Jou spoke up. He leaned down to pick up Gomamon, who looked very pleased with himself. “Gomamon and I discussed it last night. We have to do something, even at the cost of our own lives. We  _have to_ because  _that’s what we do.”_

“Jou’s right!” Gomamon said. “These are fellow Chosen Children trapped there. Kouichi and Takuya haven’t evolved yet and Takeru doesn’t have Patamon. We have to help!”

“Yeah,” Sora said. “Regardless of the risk, we have to take it. It’s what we do.” Koushiro’s expression turned pained and he turned to meet Mimi’s gaze. She gave him a bright smile, hands folded behind her back, nodding.

“Fine,” Koushiro relented. “Give me a minute to gather up my stuff. You guys should too. I’ll meet you at the school. Let’s go save our friends.” The trio and their Digimon cheered. Piyomon nuzzled the side of Sora’s head.

“Let’s go tell Taichi and the others,” she suggested.

“Good idea,” Sora agreed. “Meet you guys there!” She lifted her hand in a wave and jogged out the door. It snapped shut behind her as Koushiro glanced up at Tentomon, still lounging on the ceiling fan. They were right. They were Chosen Children, and leaving their own to die alone in the Digital World wasn’t what they did. Leaving that world to fend for itself wasn’t what they did either.

Sometimes, things didn’t need to always have a concrete plan. Sometimes, like the Chosen’s reckless leader, you could jump in and things worked out okay. Koushiro could learn a lot from Taichi. You didn’t always have to know what to expect, but it never hurt to be prepared.

Koushiro uploaded a special program onto his laptop before shutting it and cradling it to his chest. He turned to face Jou and Mimi, who were both watching with grins of their own.

“Ready?” Mimi asked.

“Yeah,” Koushiro affirmed. “Let’s go.”

 

Kouichi’s head was pounding.

Granted, it was better than it was yesterday, but it still hurt like hell. He groaned, nestling further into the leaves and twigs he had pulled over himself for warmth the previous night and shut his eyes, trying to ignore his raging thoughts. While more coherent than yesterday, he could hardly think straight without a heavy pounding behind his eyes.

Hearing movement, Kouichi risked opening his eyes. The light from the sun stabbed him in the eyes, worsening his headache, and he let out a quiet whimper, shutting them again.

“Hey, open your eyes. I need to see 'em.”

The command was harsh and Kouichi ended up doing what he was told without much thought. Again, the light seemed to make his headache even worse, but a figure squatted over the rising sun, blocking it from view. Kouichi blinked several times to clear his vision, lifting his gaze to find a mop of blonde hair and a strange looking hat.

Takeru.

Kouichi resisted the urge to groan as the memories from last night came flooding back. He was stuck in the Digital World with a massive concussion with one of the people that would sooner see him dead than save his life.

_Wonderful._

“Your pupils are still pretty dilated,” Takeru said, standing up to kick aside the remains of their campfire. “I’ll have to help you walk again today.” Kouichi was only half-listening, more paying attention to his wandering thoughts than anything.

It wasn’t necessarily  _true_  that Takeru would rather see him dead. After all, they had saved each other’s lives during the fight with Dagomon. Kouichi had thought at first he was repaying Takeru. A life for a life, eye for an eye, sort of thing. But clearly Takeru had either followed him into that endless swirling whirlpool, or he had fallen in just after Kouichi had and his debt wasn’t repaid at all. As well, Takeru mentioned Takuya was here too. Did that mean he had also fallen in? Kouichi doubted it. Their leader had a habit of making stupid decisions when his teammate's lives were on the line, which meant that Takuya had jumped in willingly.

Kouichi’s next thought went to Takeru’s destroyed arms. While Kouichi’s concussion was bad, it felt like nothing compared to looking at Takeru’s wounds. Cuts and bruises peppered his arms, some deep and others looking mild. The worst wound by far was the bruise that spanned the length of Takeru’s arm and up onto his shoulder, hidden by the sleeves of his shirt.

“You’re hurt,” Kouichi said without thinking, feeling like he had said it before.  _God_ this concussion was making it hard to think. Takeru paused mid-rant, looking over at the Warrior of Darkness.

“Excuse me?”

His tone didn’t sound insulted. Or, at least to Kouichi’s muddled mind it didn’t. It sounded more curious than anything to him.

Kouichi made to sit up, awkwardly pulling himself over to look at Takeru’s arms. He reached out to touch a bruise but Takeru recoiled, eyes wide with alarm. Kouichi immediately drew back, averting his eyes.

“I’m sorry.”

The confusion and fear spread across Takeru’s face wasn’t false. It couldn’t be. It was too genuine. The only question was  _why?_ Why was Takeru so confused and afraid of him at the same time? It didn’t make sense. Just thinking about it made Kouichi’s headache worse than ever.

“It’s fine,” Takeru’s response surprised Kouichi. “It doesn’t hurt anymore.” Kouichi glanced at the mangled arms again. The injuries sure  _looked_ painful and Kouichi wouldn’t put it past Takeru to lie about the full extent of his pain.

“Are you sure?” He ended up asking out of reflex. He wanted to reach forwards and check over the wounds himself, but he was worried that with his concussion he’d only end up making things worse.

“Yeah,” Takeru wasn’t meeting his eyes. “Come on. We should get moving.” Kouichi nodded. The other boy hoisted him up, slinging Kouichi’s arm over his shoulders and stumbling a bit. His eyes squeezed shut, betraying the pain that Kouichi had already seen.

“I-I can try to...walk on my...own.” The words couldn’t escape Kouichi coherently. He had them, he knew what he had to say, but every syllable seemed to get lost on the way out of his mouth. His headache worsened and he winced, groaning quietly. Takeru gave Kouichi a disbelieving look and pulled him forwards, hardening his expression.

“You can barely stand on your own,” he said. “I let you go and you’re gonna fall and just make your concussion worse. Let me handle it.”

“But you’re…” Kouichi tried to say, but he couldn’t manage anything other than a quiet groan escaping his lips. His headache was now spreading to his temples. It felt like his brain had a heartbeat, pulsing and beating against his skull. The thought did not ease the pounding.

Their progress was slow. Kouichi tried to ease the weight against Takeru’s shoulders by attempting to walk himself. Every step made him dizzy, and he lost perception of the world around him. He’d have to rely on Takeru to keep him from running into anything as he kept his gaze to the ground. It was the only thing that wasn’t spinning as they walked.

As time grew on, Kouichi became increasingly aware of a trail they were following. It seemed to have been cut right through the dirt and leaves like something had been dragged through. Kouichi stopped walking, prompting Takeru to halt as well.

“Something wrong?” The Chosen of Hope cast Kouichi a look, craning his neck to glance at the other boy. Kouichi wasn’t looking at him. He had his gaze trained down on the trail in the woods as it went over a small tree branch lodged in the dirt and vanished.

“See that?” Kouichi was surprised he didn’t stumble over his words.

“See what?” Takeru asked. Kouichi pointed weakly, Takeru’s gaze following where he was pointing. His eyes trailed over the trail and the scattered leaves and twigs. “Oh,” was all he said.

“Should we follow it?” Kouichi asked quietly. Another twinge of pain sparked up his skull. He winced, and Takeru’s attention was drawn to him immediately.

“No,” he decided. “With you in this state, we need to find Takuya and get home as soon as possible. We should find somewhere safe so you can rest.” Kouichi found it odd Takeru was taking his own feelings into account when before all this he seemed to hate him. Something inside Takeru was changing, and he wasn’t sure if he liked it.

“What if…” Kouichi was painfully aware of the fact that his words slurred together. But the combined disorientation of the dizziness and the headache was making it hard for him to focus. “What if it’s something...that needs our help?”

“In case you forgot, we can’t defend ourselves,” Takeru said, adjusting his grip on Kouichi’s arm. He registered a dull burning feeling as his own cuts were rubbed against the material of Takeru’s shirt, but the headache made it difficult to concentrate on it. “I don’t have Patamon and you can’t spirit evolve into...whatever you’re gonna evolve into.” Kouichi shrugged at that. If he was being entirely honest, he had no idea either and Loweemon wasn’t offering him any clues either. “Point being, we’re kind of defenseless.” Takeru continued. “We can’t go after something in the woods even if they need our help. We won’t even be able to help them.”

“But…” Kouichi understood what Takeru was saying. He really did. But there was a distant pull in his gut (Loweemon, perhaps?) that was urging him to follow that trail, wherever it might lead. Takeru, however, wasn’t having it. He gently started tugging Kouichi in the opposite direction, headed for the mountains. He was likely looking for a cave they could lie low in for a little while, nurse their wounds, and wait until Kouichi’s concussion faded.

But something told Kouichi they didn’t have that kind of  _time._

“No,” he said more firmly. “N-No we can’t…” He tried pulling away from Takeru’s grasp, but his grip held fast.

“What are you  _doing?!”_ Takeru hissed, glaring at Kouichi now. Unluckily for Takeru, however, Kouichi had been on the receiving end of that glare long enough now that he was unfazed. He tried to tug away again.

“We have to go that way,” Kouichi repeated. Every instinct in his entire body felt like it was on fire with a burning need to follow the trail. Something wasn’t right. He had to go that way to find out what Loweemon was so desperate to show him. “Something...we gotta...go…” He winced, pressing his hand to his forehead. The headache had worsened with the effort of trying to balance himself on his own now that he was half-leaning away from Takeru.

“Didn’t you hear me the first time?!” Takeru demanded. “We. Can’t. Come on!” He tugged again. This time Kouichi registered the burning sensation in his arms quite vividly and he squeezed his eyes shut. This must have been nothing compared to Takeru’s pain, and Kouichi was just making it worse by tugging him every which way.

Loweemon’s presence, dark but comforting, had arisen in the back of Kouichi’s mind. It chased away some of the headache with Loweemon’s instinct to follow that trail.

But he was just so...so  _tired._

His head was pounding and he could hardly think straight. Walking had put more of a strain on him then he had liked, and he could sense that some of Takeru’s cuts that had closed overnight had reopened with the exertion of half carrying the Warrior of Darkness through the Digital World.

Kouichi knew he should have been afraid. The situation they were in was dire, hopeless even. He couldn’t spirit evolve with a concussion this bad and Takeru didn’t have Patamon, so regular evolution wasn’t possible either. But something about the Digital World always eased his nerves. Even when the terrain was unfamiliar and the weight of the world was upon his shoulders, he still felt at ease. And so so  _tired._

Kouichi slumped forwards, nearly putting his whole weight on Takeru’s shoulders. He stopped himself though, trying to find footing in the rough ground. Takeru’s grip around his side tightened and he hoisted Kouichi up with a pained grunt.

“Sorry,” Kouichi murmured.

“’S okay,” Takeru muttered. “Let’s just keep going.” He kept walking, Kouichi making unsteady steps beside him, but Kouichi couldn’t help the burning feeling that he had to go back. He had to follow that trail and see where it led. But in this condition, he could barely put up a fight against Takeru to go back. He’d hate to see what would happen should he run into an actual threat.

Even still, one burning question still lingered at the back of Kouichi’s pounding mind. Why did Loweemon want him to go back so badly?

 

Boogiemon marched down the dark hallways, wings flanking either side of it. It’s mission to retrieve a new subject for the Mistress to try her newest inventions on was successful, so he was in high spirits.

Boogiemon made a sharp turn on his heel down another corridor, this one opening into a magnificent audience chamber. On either side of it, rivers flowed and bounced until they were lost to the walls. An old decaying rock throne stood high above him, stairs marking the way to the top. Flanking the throne was a pair of crystal-clear waterfalls, pooling into the rivers on either side. The room smelled ancient.

Boogiemon knelt in front of the throne. A figure lounged in it, silver and blue chrome armor hiding her expression from view. A scythe rested idly against the throne, wicked sharp and having been sharpened recently. Her shoulders were sharp, a blue crescent-shaped moon framing her face. Her eyes were blood red.

“Mistress,” Boogiemon said respectfully. “I have caught you a new specimen.”

“A new specimen?” The Mistress’s voice was cold and low. She adjusted in her seat peering down at Boogiemon with a cold expression.

“Y-Yes,” Boogiemon stammered. “And i-it is human this time-”

“Human?” Interest now peaked, the Mistress’s hand strayed for the scythe handle. Her fingers twitched as if she’d like nothing more than to wrap her hand around her weapon and behead the Digimon kneeling before her. “Interesting. Where did you find this human?”

“Wandering,” Boogiemon said. “I-In the woods. It attempted to put up a fight but it was weak. I-I warn you, Mistress, this human has spirit. It will likely try to escape once it is conscious and I have no doubt that somehow it will succeed and-”

“That is of no concern,” the Mistress stood. Her form flickered and in an instant, she stood before the vials lining the sides of the rooms on rock shelves. “At least, not for you.” She selected a vial and appeared suddenly in front of Boogiemon. Her red eyes gleamed. “Leave the human and it’s...habits to me.” She turned and raised the vial to the sun filtering in through the hole in the top of the chamber. The green liquid inside shimmered and turned to gold and she smirked, shaking it gently.

“Mistress?” Boogiemon spoke, its voice quivering. The Mistress didn’t reply for a moment, observing the liquid as it shifted from green to gold under the light’s rays. At last, she let out a cold, cruel chuckle and turned sharply on her heel to march down the hallway. The sounds of her clicking footsteps faded down the hallway as she observed the vial still in hand.

“Let us see,” she purred. “How this human fares against this.”

 

Hikari took a deep breath.

Squaring her jaw, she tried not to think about how she was standing shoulder-to-shoulder with both Junpei and Daisuke. The latter of the two was currently chattering with Ken, who was responding eagerly. Their friendship was still a mystery in the group of Chosen Children. How Ken and Daisuke had gone from mortal enemies in both the Digital World and the real one to best friends in a matter of months.

As for Junpei, he looked just as uncomfortable as Hikari. The only people he really knew were crowded around the computer in their hopefully-not-permanent Digimon forms, while Tomoki and Iori were trying to see over Miyako and Jou’s heads. Hikari squeezed Tailmon a little tighter.

“Okay, so run this by me again,” Kouji said. “You’re going to point your...Digivices at the computer, say some super special words, and send us all to the Digital World?”

“But only the...second generation of you guys are able to do that?” Izumi chimed in, her eyebrows furrowed.

“So that would be...Daisuke, Ken, Iori, Hikari, and Miyako, am I right?” Junpei finished.

“Essentially,” Miyako shrugged.

“This all sounds really overly-complicated to me,” Tomoki muttered.

“You get used to it,” Iori said. Hikari shifted awkwardly, trying to get closer to the computer to see what Koushiro was doing on it better. He had hooked up his laptop ten minutes ago and had been typing furiously on it ever since.

“So, what is Koushiro doing?” Izumi asked.

“I am downloading a program onto this computer,” Koushiro said. “This will hopefully keep the portal stable enough so it won’t implode while we go through.”

“Still can’t believe you guys managed to convince Koushiro to come,” Taichi said, beaming at Mimi, Sora, and Jou. Sora and Mimi returned his grin while Jou looked away bashfully. “Good work. We might have been stuck searching the city for another two weeks while he researched.”

“Hey,” Koushiro sounded offended. “In case you forgot, you  _put_ me on that assignment.”

“Yeah, yeah…”

Taichi flashed Hikari a grin over Koushiro’s shoulder. Hikari gave him an uncomfortable smile in return and his own failed him, eyebrows furrowing in concern.

“Hey, I’m gonna step out for a bit,” Taichi said. “Hikari, mind coming with me?” Hikari sighed quietly and nodded, trying for a gentle smile. The typical ‘big brother’ talk was definitely coming.

“Of course,” she said, setting Tailmon down on the desk. Taichi smiled bracingly at her and pushed his way out of the crowded computer classroom. He motioned for her to follow and she did, closing the door quietly behind her. Taichi leaned against the wall, looking her up and down. Quietly surveying her for anything that could be amiss. Hikari prepared herself, waiting for the obligatory ‘what’s wrong’ or ‘is everything okay?’ that usually predated these talks.

Instead, Taichi was silent for a moment longer. Hikari felt her skin prickle uncomfortably under her brother’s stare. He was never usually this quiet before one of these talks. Then, finally-

“What’s up?” He asked. Hikari sighed, crossing her arms and looking past Taichi down the hallway.

“I don’t know,” she said finally.

“No, don’t give me that,” Taichi adjusted the way he was leaning casually against the wall. “There’s definitely something up. There has been for three days. You come home and then go straight to bed like dinner doesn’t even exist. Admittedly Mom’s dinner isn’t exactly  _edible_ sometimes but-”

Hikari cut him off. “I’m confused, Taichi.”

“Huh?” Taichi blinked.

“About...all of this.” She gestured madly with her arms, indicating the entire situation. “Dagomon, how he knew Junpei and...and Kouichi and…” She winced. Even saying his name made all sort of alarms go off in her head. Some bad, most of them just utterly  _confused._

Taichi’s expression cleared at once. “It’s the Darkness thing again, isn’t it?” Hikari looked away. There was no use hiding anything from her brother; he could read her like a book.

“...yeah.”

Taichi pushed away from the wall to take a step forwards. He put his hand bracingly on her shoulder, thumb rubbing circles into Hikari’s skin.

“I know this is hard for you,” he said. “This is weird for me too, I get it. But we talked about this, Hikari. We need to give him a chance.”

“I-I know!” Hikari said. She didn’t need reminding of the conversation they had the night after they had first met the Warriors. Taichi had sat her down and had a very serious discussion with her about acceptance and the powers of darkness that lasted well into the night. “And I have tried...I really have but I just couldn’t help thinking he was evil and then…” Her voice broke.

Kouichi had saved Takeru. He had thrown himself in the line of fire to save another. That wasn’t what darkness did. Darkness took and hurt no matter who you were or what you did. It turned light evil and destroyed worlds. Kouichi couldn’t be darkness, especially when he was so resolved to put the lives of his teammates above his own.

“Hikari?” Taichi pressed gently. Hikari turned her gaze up to meet her older brother’s. He was now looking genuinely concerned, which not a look often portrayed by him. He had his moments where worry stole across his normal grin, but he never usually looked this scared for her. Hikari took a rattling breath.

“That’s not what darkness does,” she said quietly.

“Oh.”

Taichi understood without her having to say anything else. Hikari’s eyes were now glistening with unshed tears. This whole week had been stressful beyond words. Her best friend had jumped after something that was supposed to be evil and there was no trace of him since. She had just found out he was in the Digital World with the boy who represented darkness in its purest form and honestly? All Hikari wanted to do was cry.

“Oh, Hikari,” Taichi folded her into his arms. He pressed a chaste kiss to the top of her head, trying to comfort his little sister. “I know, I know. This is so weird for you. But you can get through it. I know you can.”

“He...he  _saved_ him Taichi!” Hikari cried into his chest. “I don’t know what I’m supposed to believe anymore!”

“I know,” Taichi said quietly. “I know.” He didn’t continue, instead letting his little sister unload all of her stress and worries into him. All he had to do was be there. After all, it was his job as a big brother. And Taichi was determined for it to remain that way as long as he drew breath.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Taichi is the best brother and you can't tell me otherwise. 
> 
> Anyways, the plot thickens! Loweemon ends up unintentionally hurting Kouichi more in his urgency to follow Takuya's trail, and the mysterious 'Mistress' begins her plans for our Warrior of Flame. Even better, the long-awaited character development for Takeru and Hikari has begun! Sooner or later they'll understand what's going on. 
> 
> Please don't get used to the new update schedule. I'm only having this much free time because of my internship, which has me staring at a computer screen half the time doing nothing. Might as well make the most of it, right? 
> 
> I hope you enjoyed! Leave a comment/kudos if you did, I love reading and responding to feedback. (Trust me, I do respond to your comments) 
> 
> You can find my Tumblr [here](https://chocolatechip-master.tumblr.com/) so if there's a certain one-shot/topic that you want me to write, just throw an ask into my inbox! :D


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Takeru makes a mistake. 
> 
> The team begins their search. 
> 
> The Mistress finds something interesting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This isn't beta-read, so all mistakes are on me. Enjoy!

Takeru couldn’t have been more relieved when he found the cave. 

It was raining now, his hair and clothes damp and dripping, but that wasn’t even his main concern. HIs arms were in complete agony, some of the wounds ripping open with the effort of carrying Kouichi. While the Warrior of Darkness was doing better than yesterday, he was still confused and disoriented. 

And earlier that day illustrated it more than anything. 

He pulled Kouichi into the cave, settling the boy down carefully on the ground. As soon as Kouichi was done, Takeru collapsed on the ground, breathing heavily. His cuts stung as the rainwater slid over them, the clear water becoming crimson with blood. 

Kouichi looked at him with half-lidded eyes. For a moment, he just observed Takeru silently. It made him nervous, the way Kouichi’s dark eyes just studied him, but he didn’t have to wait long. Kouichi leaned his head back and closed his eyes. 

“My head is killing me…” he murmured. His words were still merging together at points, but he was at least mostly coherent now. Takeru hummed in response, unsure of what to do. What  _ could  _ you say in this situation? Takeru didn’t think ‘hey, sorry your head hurts, also I’m not sure if I hate you or want to be friends with you right now’ worked in this situation. 

And that was probably too many words at once for Kouichi’s brain to handle. 

“We’re lucky we found this...this…” Kouichi waved his hand, unable to find the words. Takeru glanced around, an amused grin twitching his lips up slightly. 

“Cave?” He supplied, his tone teasing, surprising even him. 

“Yes,” Kouichi grumbled. He reached over to press his hand to his forehead, groaning softly. Takeru glanced outside, the rainwater making the grass outside look like swamp water. Takeru wouldn’t be surprised if this entire terrain turned into a swamp by the time it stopped raining. He wouldn’t put it past the Digital World, after all. 

He rubbed his arms, trying to get the rainwater off of him. Each movement made the bruises pulse and his cuts sting uncomfortably, but right now he was shivering too violently to really care. He had to get a fire going before they both froze to death. 

Kouichi groaned again, shifting and pressing his face into the crook of his arm. Takeru watched him, the slumped posture, the sweat beading his forehead, and the ripped pants, and decided that as much as he disliked darkness, he couldn’t let Kouichi die either. 

Takeru glanced outside. The rain continued tumbling in silvery sheets, dripping from the enormous canopy leaves and off of the mouth of their cave. Any wood he found would be too wet to make a fire with for a long time, and wood didn’t dry well. The best they could do was share body heat. 

_ No.  _

Takeru was surprised at the own disgust in his thoughts. There was a surge of unbridled hatred aimed at Kouichi, who had remained unmoving since he had shifted himself into a corner. 

There had to be a better option. He was not going to  _ share body heat  _ with darkness. He already had to practically carry it due to a concussion that wasn’t even Takeru’s fault. He had a vicious urge to leave Kouichi for dead, as it was the kindest thing he could do for him. For his friends. For the entire Digital World. 

Takeru’s breathing was now coming out unsteady. Kouichi lifted his arm to stare at Takeru quietly. Those deep onyx eyes were unwavering, confused, and just  _ so kind. _

“Takeru?” Kouichi’s words were barely more than a murmur. Takeru’s hands curled into angry fists, his nails biting into his skin. Every little movement jarred his injuries, but Takeru had already surged into motion. He grabbed the other boy by the collar and jerked him none-too-nicely against the cave wall. 

Kouichi’s hands flew up to Takeru’s, surprise and sudden comprehension in his position dawning in those dark eyes. He tugged weakly at his wrist, dilated pupils fixed firmly on him. Takeru had an urge to crash Kouichi’s head against the wall. Worsen the concussion and leave. He didn’t care about the consequences anymore. He couldn’t stand  _ one more second  _ standing in the same small cave as darkness. 

Kouichi was panicking now. He scrabbled for a hold on Takeru’s wrist, unable to find it in his haze of confusion. 

“T-Takeru,” he croaked. “W-What are you-” In response, Takeru’s grip around his shirt collar tightened. The already tight collar was nearly choking Kouichi at this point. Takeru hands were shaking with rage, a silent prayer in his head that if he squeezed tight enough he could wrangle all the darkness out of Kouichi-

It hit him like a sack of bricks. 

It was not Kouichi who Takeru hated. It was his element. Who he represented. Kouichi was a boy with an unfortunate fate placed upon him. Forced to represent darkness, to defend it against all odds. Takeru was being  _ unfair. _

He released Kouichi. He started coughing, leaning away from Takeru and holding his head. He let out a quiet groan, fixing Takeru. Those kind eyes were now filled with fear and mistrust. In Takeru’s mind, that was a much more fitting look for a child of darkness. 

“What...the _hell?!”_ Kouichi gasped. Takeru’s eyes widened a fraction, unused to hearing so much as a ‘frick’ escaping the gentle boy’s lips. But he hardened his gaze and glared at the spot just over Kouichi’s head. 

“I’m sorry,” he said simply. 

“Sorry?!” Kouichi stared at him, incredulous. “You could have...choked me there. What-” 

“I’m sorry for your burden.” 

“Wh-What?!” Visible confusion. Kouichi didn’t understand. No matter, Takeru could make him understand. 

“Darkness,” Takeru said simply. “You of anyone shouldn’t be forced to have to carry it with you. Something so evil shouldn’t be in the hands of someone so nice.” 

“That’s…” Kouichi was struggling to put together words. They were stringing together randomly, coming in a babble of confused noises and sounds. Takeru’s sudden aggression probably wasn’t doing good for Kouichi’s concussion. 

“You of anyone don’t deserve this.” Takeru had the slightest inkling that he was off somehow. That something in his logic was flawed, but how could it? Darkness, in its purest form, was evil. He was correct. He had to be. 

“A...burden?” Kouichi repeated. “You think...I…what?!” He tried to sit up, arms trembling beneath him in an effort to support himself. 

“I’m sorry,” Takeru repeated and sat down, back facing away from Kouichi. The rain continued tumbling outside, thunder crashing in the distance. 

He didn’t speak to Kouichi for the remainder of the day. 

 

Tomoki tumbled unceremoniously on top of someone else. 

He let out a quiet groan of pain, trying to put all of his thoughts in order. He remembered Taichi and Hikari returning from...whatever they were doing, and then Miyako had stood with her Digivice out, pointed at the computer. She’d said something, something Tomoki hadn’t caught, and then there was a sucking sensation as he was lifted off his feet and pulled into the computer. 

Now he was here. 

Tomoki opened his eyes weakly, glancing around him. The sun was bright and it felt like needles stabbing into his pupils. He looked down, only to see he was at the top of the pile of DigiDestined and had his body cushioned between the bodies of Daisuke and Ken. 

“Everyone okay?” Junpei’s amused voice caused Tomoki to look up. Hovering above them was Izumi, Junpei, and the rest of the Digimon with flying abilities. 

“We’re fine,” came a muffled voice from the bottom of the pile. Jou. “Though it’d be nice if everyone got off so I could breathe.” 

One by one, they all piled off of each other. Izumi, Kouji, and Junpei moved to stand next to Tomoki, who suddenly felt very out of place. He was the only one, beside Kouichi and Takuya, who had yet to evolve into his Digimon form. Even though he was surrounded by friends, it felt odd to be the only one taller than five feet. 

Taichi raised an eye to shade it from the sun. “Yup. We’re definitely in the Digital World.” 

Trees as high as mountains surrounded them, while the mountains felt more like hills if anything. The leaves on the trees were abnormally large, probably able to cover Tomoki top to bottom if one of them fell. 

“Where do you think they are?” Sora asked. Piyomon hovered just above her shoulder, almost protectively. “This world is enormous I don’t know if-” 

“Takeru?” Patamon shot to attention in Yamato’s arms. The child of friendship looked down at the Digimon, whose enormous ears were twitching slightly.  “I...I can feel him I-” He let out a sharp gasp and shot out of Yamato’s arms like a bullet. “This way!” 

“Hey, whoa, hold up!” Taichi jumped up and with one long arm swiped Patamon out of the sky. “We can’t just rush in head-first like that!” 

“Let me go!” Patamon wriggled in Taichi’s grip. “Let me go, he needs me! He  _ needs me!”  _ Taichi exchanged a look with Yamato, who was starting to get a wild look in his eye all too similar to the Digimon. 

“Taichi’s right,” Sora agreed. “We don’t know where we are. We have to be careful. Patamon...why don’t you just direct us? We can find Takeru through there.” There was a chorus of murmured agreements and Patamon’s large eyes flickered between each one of them and he slowly nodded. 

The group exchanged relieved glances. Mimi opened her mouth to speak when the ground rumbled, sending several of the smaller children - Tomoki included - onto the ground. Tomoki let out a quiet cry as his shoulder landed on something hard, his shoulder going  _ pop  _ and agony flooded it. He hoped dearly he hadn’t broken it. 

“What’s going-agh!” Miyako’s scream was shrill as the ground rumbled again. 

Then, the ocean at their backs exploded.

 

Takuya couldn’t see clearly when he came to. 

Everything was slightly blurry and he couldn’t move his arms and legs out from behind him. Every time he did, the chains they were bound to would catch, dragging Takuya backward and giving him even less wiggle room than before. It was more annoying than painful, especially when Takuya ended up wriggling a lot and had his back pressed to the cold cell wall and some of his skin pinched in between his skin and the wall. 

Takuya tried to think clearly. His head throbbed where it had struck the rock that had effectively knocked him out, which wasn’t helping him in the slightest. He gritted his teeth, trying to force himself to  _ focus.  _ He pulled again. His chains were now pressed to the tiny alcove they were coming out of, pulling part of his wrists under with it. He hissed at the pain that followed. It was mild, tolerable, but still hurt like  _ hell  _ if he moved wrong. 

Clicking footsteps sounded down the hallway. Takuya raised his gaze to the bars of the cell, watching as a figure appeared in front of him, her silver chrome armor glinting off of the dim light cast through the fissures in the walls. She observed him silently, expressionless (it probably didn’t help that she didn’t have a face)  and Takuya suddenly felt very small. Prey in the presence of a much larger, much more powerful predator. 

Takuya tried to find Agnimon’s fire to hold onto, only to find that it had been  _ snuffed out.  _ Dim embers remained of his presence. Weak, still there, but not enough to encourage Takuya.  _ Why wasn’t Agnimon here?!  _

The Digimon stepped closer to the cell and with a tinkle of keys, the gate swung open with a loud creak. Takuya cringed and moved farther against the wall. It didn’t help, since at this point he was practically  _ fused  _ with the wall with how close he was. 

The Digimon stopped, towering above Takuya for a moment, and knelt, observing him but not touching. Takuya felt less like a prey now and more like a science experiment. 

“A human,” her voice was smooth and reminded Takuya of marble. Cold and high, without a blemish on its surface. “He wasn’t kidding.” 

“Who wasn’t kidding?” Takuya demanded without thinking, baring his teeth at the Digimon, hoping it looked in the least a bit threatening. Judging by the amused noise she did, he probably looked like a puppy trying to scare a shark. 

“A fine specimen,” she whispered without answering and began reaching down towards him. Takuya shrank away, glaring at her viciously and hoping with all his heart if he struggled enough his chains would drag him into the wall. 

“Don’t touch me,” Takuya snarled as her fingers drifted closer and closer. “Don’t you dare _touch me-_ ”

There was a surge in his gut. A protective surge that came from  _ outside  _ of Takuya rather than  _ inside  _ and Agnimon’s presence was suddenly  _ there.  _ All consuming and  _ comforting.  _ Takuya wasn’t alone. He never was. 

_ She won’t.  _

Takuya almost reeled back, surprised at the vicious tone that was unmistakably Agnimon. Protective and so,  _ so  _ angry. 

As soon as the Digimon’s fingers came within an inch of Takuya’s skin, she was thrown back by a shockwave. She crashed into the bars of the cell with a loud clatter and a cry of pain. Surprised, Takuya looked around only to see his whole body surrounded by a faint orange glow. It encompassed his skin making it look glossy, almost like a shield.

It was entirely  _ Agnimon.  _

Things clicked into place. Agnimon wasn’t there in Takuya’s head when he woke up because he was on the  _ outside.  _ A shield to protect him from anyone who wished the boy harm. Giving back to Takuya for all the pain he had endured to keep Agnimon alive all the time ago. 

The Digimon began to laugh and if she had a face other than her eyes, Takuya imagined her to be grinning. She lifted her head and made eye contact with Takuya, scanning the orange glow that surrounded him in a protective shroud. 

“How  _ interesting,”  _ she whispered. “I should have known that not just any human could come to the Digital World.” 

Takuya’s breath caught.  _ She didn’t mean…?  _

“It appears,” The Mistress’ imaginary grin stretched wider. “I have caught myself a Legendary Warrior.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyyy! I thought it'd be fitting to update today - it being August 1st and all. Happy Anniversary to the adventure kids! <3
> 
> Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I'm sorry it's so short and rushed. I'm also sorry about how long it's been since my last update, but we're finally starting to get into the real plot of this. It only took twelve chapters, but finally, I've got some quality things going on here. 
> 
> The Unlucky Trio (special thanks to the commenter who made that name - you know who you are :p) strikes again! This time with Takeru making a dumbass decision and drawing conclusions that make no sense to the rest of us, but make sense to him. Hopefully he won't remain ignorant for much longer. At least Hikari's starting to see the light. And don't even get me started on Takuya and the Mistress. 
> 
> Unrelated, but how many of you have played/seen a playthrough of Detroit: Become Human? I recently got the game and I'm in love with it. The storyline leaves much to be desired, but the characters are so good that they propel it through all of its weak points. I really enjoyed it! If you've seen it, keep an eye out for maybe something Detroit related popping up in the future. 
> 
> Switching gears here again - if you're an artist and have gained interest in this story, please feel free to make art of it and tag me in it on Tumblr! 
> 
> Thank you so so much for reading! It means the world to me, really! I hope you enjoyed! Leave a comment/kudos if you did, feedback means more than you know <3
> 
> You can find my Tumblr [here](https://chocolatechip-master.tumblr.com/) so if there's a certain one-shot/topic that you want me to write, just throw an ask into my inbox! :D


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